


stay stabby, z-nation!

by lovevalley45



Series: The Zavaverse [12]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, F/F, minor chastra n goldwest, sapphic pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23430385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovevalley45/pseuds/lovevalley45
Summary: Ava Sharpe and Zari Tarazi's brands couldn't be more different. One talks about true crime for a living, while the other is all about the glam. But through a surprisingly successful collaboration, they find out that they might be more alike than either of them expected.
Relationships: Ava Sharpe/Zari Tomaz | Zari Tarazi, Nora Darhk/Mona Wu, Sara Lance/Kendra Saunders
Series: The Zavaverse [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797229
Comments: 60
Kudos: 61





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> bold of this show to assume they could just drop ava being a podcaster like that and i assume i wouldn't do smth like this. bold.  
> anyways. it's what i've been waiting for, specifically, but hasn't come and that's a full blown zava epic. i guess i gotta do all the work in this fandom.  
> a big thank you to @ginger-canary for just fucking listening to me talk abt this fic and honestly, zava in general, while i've been working on it. this is for you, freckles.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where it all begins...

When Ava had started StabCast, she’d never really imagined it becoming popular. It was just supposed to be a little hobby to break up the monotony of government work - she’d do a little research and record an episode, maybe once a month or so. That was it. 

But people liked her stuff. They liked the corny jokes she made to break up the tension and her passion for true crime. Her show actually had a fanbase. 

It was weird, to say the least. 

That had been a few years ago now - she’d quit her day job to do the show full time, turned her home office into a recording studio, and even invited guests sometimes. Usually it was just her friends Mona and Nora, neither who were nerds about serial killers and the like as she was. But it was fun, and that was what mattered, right?

Ava thought it’d get boring someday. That the work would get to her, but it never did. She loved more than she thought she ever would. Her podcast had become more than her career, it had opened a door to things she hadn’t even considered. Like this. 

She fiddled with the pass around her neck as she waited for the opening statements to start. Going to conferences hadn’t been too bad when she was back with the Department of Defense, but this was out of her ballpark. It was supposed to be for queer content creators, which she guessed she was. Calling herself a content creator always felt kinda weird, far from the job she’d trained for. 

The hotel where it was held was nice, at least. Ava had flown all the way from her apartment in D.C. to LA for what, to listen to other people talk for three days?

“Excuse me, is anyone sitting there?”

Ava looked up at who was talking to her. She wouldn’t call herself up to the times, but she recognized the woman right away. It was some internet celebrity who’d gotten famous young named Zari Tarazi. 

But man, she was prettier in person. She was probably dressed nicer than most of the people here in her floral mini dress. Her ombre hair was meticulously curled, with her rosy eye shadow making her dark eyes pop. 

“Uh, sure.” Ava moved her notepad to her lap. “Go ahead.”

Zari took the seat beside her, moving a strand of hair out of her face. “Hey, aren’t you that true crime podcaster?” 

“That doesn’t really narrow it down,” she said. “There’s probably a dozen of those here.”

“No, I’m thinking of one in particular. Is it… StabCast?” She grinned when she figured it out, her eyes lighting up. 

She hid the tiny bit of excitement that bubbled from being recognized as she smiled.“Yeah, that’s me. I’m Ava Sharpe.” She held out her hand. 

“And you probably already know me,” Zari said, taking her hand. “Zari Tarazi.”

“That I do.” It was hard not to know her. Even though she didn’t know her entire career, she knew enough. The latest gossip, according to Mona, was that she’d come out as bi after breaking off her engagement with some dude named DJ S’more Head. Or something. That explained why she was here, then.

Ava checked her watch. It was supposed to start by now, but it was running late. Unsurprising, really, but she couldn’t help but be a little annoyed. 

“So… podcasting,” Zari said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “What’s that like?”

She turned back to look at her. “It’s - it’s fun.” By now, she ought to be better about talking about her show, but it always felt awkward. “You know, true crime and the like is really interesting to dive deep into and share that with other people… I don’t know, I started it as a hobby. And now, I’m here.”

“Huh.” She nodded, fiddling with the ring on her pinky. “I’ve been kinda thinking about starting a podcast or something,” she added, lowering her voice as if afraid others would hear. 

“You should do it,” Ava found herself saying. “I mean, it’d be a good way to shake things up.”

Zari nodded again. “And as a seasoned podcaster-”

“Well, I wouldn’t call myself seasoned.”

“Maybe you would be willing to give me a little advice.”

“Uh-” She was figuring out the most relaxed way to say yes when someone tapped on the microphone.

“Hello, everyone!” One of the organizers, some hipster-y looking girl she didn’t personally know had come out onto the stage. “It’ll just be a few more moments then we’ll get this thing started!”

Ava sighed and turned back to her. “Yeah, I’d love to. How about we exchange numbers after the panel?”

“That sounds great,” Zari said with a small smile. 

\--

She would admit that, when they first exchanged numbers Ava had thought of it as networking more than anything. They’d probably talk a few times and then fade from each other’s memories.

A few weeks had passed since that conference, with just a couple of conversations about podcasting advice between them. She was supposed to be researching for her newest episode about Katherine Knight but Mona had surprised her with lunch. With the remaining scraps of her appetite, she had graciously accepted. 

“So I told that publisher that she could stick it up my-” Mona’s riveting story was interrupted by her phone ringing on the counter. “Who’s that?”

Ava put down her sandwich and reached over for her phone. “I don’t know.” She checked the caller ID to see a very familiar logo looking up at her. “Oh, it’s someone I met at the conference.”

As soon as she answered the phone, she was greeted with an excited, “Ava!”

“Hey, Zari,” she said, watching the way Mona’s eyebrows raised up as high as humanly possible. “What’s up?”

“Okay-” She heard Zari inhale. “I think I finally figured out when I’m going to release the first episode of my podcast.”

“Oh, that’s great!” 

“And my team and I had an idea,” she added. The joy in her tone was so audible that it made Ava worry a little. The phrase ‘I had an idea’ had the tendency to fill her with a certain kind of fear that she had two people to blame for. 

“What idea was that?” she asked hesitantly.

“Well, you have a pretty popular podcast, right?” Zari asked.

“I’d say it’s… relatively popular, yeah,” she said. From across the table, Mona mouthed, _relatively my ass_. As Ava ignored her, she added, “Why do you ask?”

“We thought it would be a good idea to do something to promote Z-Hour, and what better way to do than doing a collab?” 

“A collab?” she repeated.

Mona perked up even more. _DO IT_ , she mouthed. 

She rolled her eyes and mouthed, _FINE._ “Sure!” Her own peppy tone scared her. “I mean, how soon were you thinking?”

There was a long pause over the phone, but she heard some discussion. Ava looked at her friend with a wide-eyed look, shrugging. 

“I’m free next week,” Zari finally said. “I can probably fly to D.C. so we can record in your studio, that cool with you?”

“Uh…” That definitely hadn’t been exactly how she was seeing this going. Then again, the whole scenario of doing an episode of StabCast with her hadn’t been a possibility until two minutes ago. “Yeah. Yeah, that’ll work. I’m supposed to record this episode on Wednesday, so if you can make it here by then that’ll be great.”

“Awesome! I’ll text you what’s up.” With that, she hung up.

The moment Ava moved the phone from her ear, Mona said, “You met Zari Tarazi and didn’t tell me?” 

“It didn’t seem important!” She put her phone down and shrugged again. “I wasn’t expecting her to offer to be a guest on StabCast.”

She didn’t look entirely convinced, but she picked her sandwich back up. “Fine. But you better fill me in later.”

“Okay, I will. It wasn’t, you know, that eventful of a meeting,” Ava waved her hand. “So, where were you going to tell that publisher to shove it?”

As Mona started up again about the rude publisher she’d had to deal with, she tamped down her worries about this whole collab situation. She would handle that when it came to it. 

\--

Guests weren’t a rare occurrence on her show. If she could drag Mona or Nora into an episode every once in a while, she would. It had gotten to a point where she barely had to introduce them in some episodes.

This, however, was so different. It wasn’t her dragging one of her friends along to make witty commentary with her, it was an actual celebrity. Well, she was practically a celebrity. 

When the doorbell finally rang on Wednesday morning, she felt way more nervous than she had expected. She opened the door to an enthusiastic-seeming Zari with her phone in one hand and a tray with two cups in the other.

Maybe she hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night or the fact that she hadn’t had coffee yet this morning. But when she saw her, it was like every intelligent thought slipped out of her brain. Her pink long-sleeved blouse and pencil skirt made her feel a little under-dressed in her own tan sweater and slacks. 

“Good morning!” she said. “I had Les-lay look up the best coffee shops before I left - after all, it’s only polite to bring your host a gift.” 

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Ava smiled and moved to let her come in.

Zari walked in and headed straight to the table, taking a look around. “This place is nice.”

“Well, a government salary can do wonders with apartment shopping,” she deadpanned as she closed the door. 

“Sure seems like it,” she said, setting down the tray and taking out the cups. “Okay. A vanilla latte for you and a decaf low-fat mocha for me.” She held out the drink in her left hand for Ava to take when she walked over. “So, where does the magic happen?”

“My studio’s just upstairs,” she told her.

“Cool,” Zari sipped her mocha, tapping her fingers against the cup. “Let’s get this thing started.”

Before Ava could fully react, she was already heading towards the stairs. 

“Oh, okay,” she said, starting after her. “We don’t have to go right into recording or anything.”

“I know,” Zari replied, looking over her shoulder. “I just want to get a feel for the acoustics and stuff.”

“Okay, then,” Ava muttered as she followed her up the stairs. “Let’s do that.”

During her stress-clean of the apartment before, she had saved her studio for last. It was neat as always, her reference books all lined up on the shelf at the back of the room. They made a nice background for the occasion she decided to film an episode to share on her Patreon. 

She swept a hand over her desk to wipe any imaginary dust as they walked in. The soft-lighting gave the place a bit of a creepy feel, but she figured it fit well with her brand. “So this is… where it happens?” 

Zari frowned a little. “Hm.”

It wasn’t a very encouraging response.

As she inspected the room, Ava worked on making sure everything was set to record. She booted up her recording software, made sure her notes were pulled up, and checked that everything was plugged in.

“Hey, Z-Nation. I’m in the StabCast studio right now-”

She raised her head to see Zari recording the two of them on her phone. As she noticed her looking at the camera in surprise, she turned it towards her a little. 

“Say hi!”

“Uh, hey?” Ava said. She waved and gave the camera a small smile. For someone whose career was mostly internet-based, she would admit she was painfully adept with social media. “You’re not going to be live-streaming or whatever the whole time, are you?”

“No,” she said with a grin. “Just, you know, while I’m waiting.”

She caught herself rolling her eyes as she sat down. “Well, you can shut it off. Come on, sit.”

Zari joined her at her desk, putting her phone down with an annoyed expression. When she passed her a pair of headphones, she slipped them on and adjusted her curls so that they didn’t get messed up. 

“Three… two… one… and we’re recording.” She smiled, putting on a facade for an audience who couldn’t see her. “Hello, everyone. I’m Ava Sharpe, and you’re listening to StabCast. Today, I’m here with a special guest.”

“Hey. Zari Tarazi here.” With her hands laid on top of each other, she looked back up at Ava. 

“Yes, the collab you never dreamed of. Folks, Zari is in the studio right now. So, before we start, do you have a sensitive stomach?”

“Uh…” Zari rightfully looked a touch scared when she said that. “Not completely?”

“Well, that’s good. Because today we’re heading _down under_ with Katherine Knight,” Ava said, putting on her worst Australian accent. 

An outburst of laughter beside her caught her off guard. “Oh my God,” her guest remarked. “Never do that accent again.”

When she glanced over and saw Zari’s bright grin, her heart skipped a beat. _Holy shit_ , she thought for a moment. _I want to make her laugh forever_. “I’ll spare you guys a little. Maybe.” She cleared her throat. “Now, Ms. Knight’s story is particularly gruesome - in that she murdered, skinned, then cooked her husband. Hey, I warned you.”

“Guess this isn’t a story for any vegetarian listeners out there,” she added. 

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, Mona.” Ava laughed as she pulled up her notes. “So. Let’s get into it.”

\-- 

The episode seemed to pass by quicker than it usually did. Which was strange, because it was definitely on the longer side. Once they actually started recording, Ava found herself getting along better with Zari than she’d originally thought she would. Their brands were so… well, different, that the duo of glam internet celebrity and government-suit-turned-true-crime-podcaster seemed like it would never work.

But there was something fun about recording with her. Even when she had to get into the more graphic stuff, which doubled as her favorite and least favorite part of any episode. 

“And remember, check out my new podcast Z-Hour when the first episode drops on Monday,” Zari said as they were finishing up the episode. 

“Tune in next week, and until then, stay stabby.” Ava stopped recording and turned to her with a grin. “So. That was fun.”

“Yeah. We should do this again.” She picked up her mocha and took a sip, only to wrinkle her nose. “Ugh. It’s cold.”

“Maybe we should have waited to get coffee until after we recorded,” she said, glancing at her own abandoned drink.

“Whatever.” Zari stood up. “You wanna grab lunch?”

“You mean you still have an appetite even after hearing all that?” Ava joked, shutting her laptop. 

“A little, yeah,” she said as she took out her phone. “Oh, wow.”

“What?” she asked before Zari shoved her phone in her face with a grin. 

“They love us!” As soon as the phone was far enough from her eyes so that she could actually read it, she looked over the comments. Sure enough, there was a surprising overlap of people who liked makeup tutorials and true crime.

Well, it really wasn’t that surprising. 

“Wow,” Ava said intelligently. 

“I know.” With a squeal, Zari clutched her phone against her chest. “This is going to be so good for my numbers.” 

As she stood up, she smiled. “We really should do this again.”

“Oh, definitely.” She lowered her phone. “So, lunch?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! i just wanted to say thank you for reading this first chapter, i hope y'all really like it. i'll probably be alternating between posting this fic and my group chat fic every week, so you can expect a new chapter in a couple of weeks. have fun, stay safe, n stay crispy.


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zari makes a not-so-special guest appearance at Ava's live show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy guess what i said i was gonna post this next week yet here i am. congrats  
> once again, a shout-out to @ginger-canary for her advice/listening to me ramble on abt zava lol  
> anyways. enjoy

There was always something therapeutic about book club. 

Her life had changed a lot in the past few years, but this was one thing that had remained constant. Ava had been meeting with Mona and Nora back when she and Mona worked in the same office and her podcast barely had a hundred listeners. She wouldn’t say she was the best book club member (meaning: she usually read a synopsis about the book instead of really reading it), but it was barely about books anymore.

That night was no exception as she sat in Mona and Nora’s apartment, finishing up her glass of rosé. Nora had her head in her girlfriend’s lap. She was so quiet that Ava had her suspicions that she had fallen asleep.

“I’m gonna get some more wine,” she said, standing up. 

“Can you fill my glass too?” Mona asked.

“Sure.” She picked it up and made her way to the kitchen. 

As she was taking the bottle of wine out of the fridge, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She put the bottle on the counter as quietly as could before checking her notifications.

Ava couldn’t help but smile while she unlocked her phone. The first thing that popped up was a picture of a gray cat stretched out in Zari’s lap. Her bright pink acrylics were resting on his stomach, probably mid belly scratch. 

**ztarazi:** how i feel after a day of filming

She quickly slipped her phone away and refilled their glasses, heading back to the couch. But Mona didn’t fail to notice her smile. 

“I know that look,” she said.

“Oh, she got a text from Zari?” Nora asked, perking up a little. 

“She totally did.”

“Why do automatically assume it was her?” Ava asked. She took a sip of her wine and muttered, “And yeah, she did.”

“Ooh!”

“It was just a cat picture!”

A few months had passed since the episode they did together for StabCast. Although it had done wonderful things for both of them - with Ava’s listenership increasing and fans of her show flocking to Z-Hour as well - they still hadn’t planned another chance to work together. 

That didn’t mean they didn’t talk though; in fact, it was the exact opposite. It seemed like whenever she had a free moment to spare, she would find a way to text Ava some picture of her tabby Mithra or just check in about her day. They didn’t have hour-long conversations on the phone or anything, but the stupid text conversations they had were good enough.

And maybe, just maybe, those texts were always the highlight of her day.

Nora sat up, wrapping an arm around Mona’s shoulders. “So, when are you going to have her on again?”

“I don’t know,” Ava admitted. “She’s been busy.”

“Don’t you have that live show in New York next month? You could make plans then,” she suggested.

Mona smiled, an idea clearly forming. “Oh! You should see if she can come to your show!”

Ava was pretty sure it was the wine speaking, but she said, “Oh, I could invite her.”

“That is… a great idea,” Nora agreed. “Mona, have I told you how smart you are lately?”

“Probably!”

“Okay, I’m gonna text her.” She took her phone back out.

 **asharpe:** Hey, Zari, are u busy on the 5th next month?

 **asharpe:** I got a live show n it would be very very cool if u came. 

It took about the time for her to finish her glass of wine for Zari to reply. “Shh,” she whispered as her phone buzzed. “It’s important.”

“Why do we need to shut up? It’s a text?” Nora asked, before Mona shushed her as well. 

**ztarazi:** i don’t think so? i can make time

 **asharpe:** It’s in nyc so u don’t have to fly or whatever. 

**asharpe:** Yay, send u the stuff later. 

**asharpe:** Tell mithra i said hi!

“She said yes!” Ava stood up. “Why am I so happy?”

“Because she’s awesome?” Mona suggested.

“Exactly!”

\--

Okay, maybe she had gotten a little tipsy at book club last night. 

Ava was thankful that she didn’t wake up with a hangover but unfortunately, she did wake up with regret. 

Her texts to Zari hadn’t been too embarrassing, but she didn’t mean to be so… blunt. As she ate her breakfast, she typed out an apology. 

**asharpe:** Sorry about that. I had a little too much wine last night. 

**ztarazi:** it’s chill

 **ztarazi:** does that mean i’m not invited to ur live show anymore

She nearly choked on her toast. Her drunk texts hadn’t just scared her off? 

**asharpe:** Of course! I’d love to have you come. 

**ztarazi:** well if it’s no trouble i mean

 **asharpe:** The show’s not completely sold out yet, I can try to set aside a ticket for you. 

**ztarazi:** okay!

After she’d sent her the details for the show from her website, she’d figured that was the end of the conversation about it for the day. 

Ava had gone back to reading about Ed Gein for her series about him that afternoon and tried to stay focused. However, once her phone buzzed again, she immediately checked to see who it was. 

**ztarazi:** hey maybe if u don’t have anything to do the day after u can come by n film w/ me? if you’re not too tired or smth

All thoughts of weird grave robbers left her mind in one moment when she read that text. She didn’t even know what doing a video with Zari would be like, actually. Still, she pondered her response carefully. 

**asharpe:** Sure. I'm good with that. 

Yeah, that worked.

 **ztarazi:** great! can’t wait to collab again!

 **asharpe:** Me neither. 

As she set her phone back down, she grinned. Well, there went her concentration for the afternoon. 

\--

“Okay, so we have an hour before you’re supposed to be on stage,” Mona said as she walked in. “How are you feeling?”

“Uh… I’m doing good. I think,” Ava said. 

“Any word from Zari?” 

She checked her phone, before lying it down. “Not yet.”

“Well.” Mona sat on the chair beside her. “At least you got me.”

“I know I always have you. Her friend had agreed to come help her set up and get everything running for the show, which was a godsend tonight. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done live shows before. But she had done most of them in DC.

This, though, was of course different. She hadn’t chosen New York City with Zari in mind, but she had a lot of fans there. If this worked well, she’d probably have more live shows, and- That was beside the point. 

“It’s a bummer Nora couldn’t make it though,” she added. 

“Yeah. But you know, the kids out there need her. Improving lives, and all. I just had to tell Mick I’m out of town for a few days and he asked if that meant I won’t call him for book updates.” 

Ava laughed. “He must be pretty happy about that.”

“Eh, I’m sure he misses me,” Mona said. “This is going to be so exciting!”

A knock on the door shocked both of them. They glanced at one another, waiting for the other to get up and answer it.

Finally, Ava groaned and stood up. “Fine.” 

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see no one but Zari there. Seeing her again felt a lot better than she thought she would have. She figured she must have been trying to go undercover, given her purple sunglasses despite them being inside. With a grin, she waved. “Hey, Ava.”

“Hey,” she said, moving aside to let her in. “What’s up with the shades?”

“Oh.” Zari took them off and tucked them away. “I thought I’d try to blend in.”

If blending in was her intention, her outfit did not seem planned with that in mind. She was rocking another mini dress with some polka dot pattern and a rich purple blazer that was the same color as her shades over it. Failing to blend in or not, she looked great. 

“I wasn’t expecting you to come early or, you know, drop by before the show,” Ava told her.

“It was supposed to be a surprise.” Zari stopped when she noticed Mona. “Oh, hello. Who’s this?”

“That’s my friend, Mona. She flew up here with me to help me set up and stuff.”

“Oh. It’s lovely to meet you.”

Mona walked over with barely contained enthusiasm. “I’m Mona Wu - well, she just told you that, but - I’m a literary agent for Rebecca Silver, and…” She paused. “Unfortunately not single,” she added and held her hand out for her to shake. 

Ava looked over at Zari’s confused expression. It was almost adorable, before she remembered to grab her hand. “Thanks.” It was only then she noticed the lack of her long acrylics. Why was she paying so much attention to her nails?

As she was about to say something, the tune of ‘Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo’ started to play from Mona’s pocket. “Speaking of… that’s Nora.” She headed past them to the door. “I better take this. It was wonderful to meet you!”

With that, she stepped out of the backroom, leaving the two of them alone. 

“She’s nice,” Zari said. “Not the sort of person I thought you’d hang out with, but nice.”

“What type of person did you think I hung out with?” she asked, crossing her arms across her chest with a smile.

“Boring government suits and stuff.” With that, she looked over Ava’s outfit. “Speaking of suits, why do you look like a slam poet or something?”

She looked down at her dark grey turtleneck… and her black blazer… and her black slacks. “I wanted to look nice!” she argued. 

“Hm, I’ll do my best. I’d suggest swapping jackets, but this purple would clash with everything you have going on here.” Zari stepped closer and tugged at the lapels of her blazer. 

Ava rolled her eyes. “I’ll lose the jacket, okay?” she said, trying not to think of how close she was. 

She took off her jacket and folded it on the counter. As she did, she heard Zari clear her throat. “Why doesn’t that sweater have sleeves?”

“Uh…” She turned around to look at her, standing with a hand in front of her mouth like she was trying not to stay something. “I get hot.”

“Huh.” Zari was quiet for a moment before she said, “Okay. New plan.” She put her hands on Ava’s shoulders and turned her around to steer her to the couch. “How much time do you have before you have to go on stage?”

She checked her watch. “I’ve got 55 minutes. Why?”

“Cool.” She sat down beside her and pulled out a makeup remover wipe. “Stay still.”

“Woah. What are you doing?” Ava asked, her eyes suddenly wide. 

“Relax, I’m just going to do something fun with your eye makeup.” When she didn’t relax, Zari sighed and asked, “Look. Do you trust me?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Okay.” She looked her right in the eyes, tilting her head a little. “Trust me.” 

“Fine,” she muttered, closing her eyes. Makeup wasn’t really her thing, mostly because it’d been more than a year since she’d needed to leave the house everyday and go to work. Ava could only hope that she knew what she was doing.

“Just stay still,” Zari said. 

No one needed to tell her to stay still, but she felt like she was holding her breath as she leaned close. She had practically turned into a statue at her touch. Her hands were surprisingly cold, but not clammy against her skin. The ring on her pinky pressed into the underside of her jaw as she cupped her cheek. 

“Now, if I could just do your eyeliner, I could give you a killer cat eye,” she heard her say..

“Was that a pun?” Ava asked, keeping her eyes closed. 

“Maybe.” Her voice gave her away, though, her smile coming through in her tone.

It could have been how careful she was, but time seemed to inch by around them. Or maybe it was that she’d forgotten how to breathe with her so close. Her heart beat faster in her chest, but she didn’t quite know why. 

Finally, finally, she finished and moved away. “Wow. When I told you to stay still, I didn’t think you would be that still.”

“I’m good at following orders,” she said, her eyes still closed.

“I’m sure you are,” Zari said, barely loud enough for her to hear it. “You can open your eyes if you don’t blink too much. 

Ava opened her eyes just as she cupped her cheek again. She couldn’t help but watch her expression as she applied her mascara, the focus on her face. Her pink lips were parted just a little in concentration and she started to wonder what would happened if she just… 

“Okay.” She moved away and burst her thought bubble as she looked at her. “What?”

“Nothing, I just…” _Was thinking about kissing you maybe a little_. “Just. Kinda zoned out for a minute.”

Zari didn’t quite look like she believed her, but she dug around in her purse and pulled out a compact. She opened it up and handed it to her. “Okay. What do you think?”

When she took the mirror from her, Ava didn’t know what to expect. She knew she tended towards more bright colors, but she was more of a neutrals gal herself. But the peachy look she was met with was more of a surprise than anything. It was surprisingly tame, really, bringing out her blue eyes more. The eyeliner was bolder than she would usually go with, but it tied the look together. 

“It- it looks great,” she said, realizing that she was actually waiting for an answer. 

“Great!” Zari took her mirror back with a grin. “Told you that you could trust me.”

“Yeah,” Ava said, smiling. “Do you just have a whole makeup kit in your purse or something?”

“I always come prepared,” she remarked. 

The door opened back up, and they both turned to watch Mona walk in. “Hey, what did I miss?” She looked at Ava and took a double take. “Oh shit. Nice eyeliner.”

“Zari gave me a mini makeover,” she explained.

“Looks good though,” Mona said, nodding. 

“I know, right!” With that, Zari stood up. “I’m going to see if the bar here has any good mocktails. See you on stage.”

As she walked out, Mona turned to Ava with her jaw dropped. 

“Oh my God, you just got your makeup done by _Zari fucking Tarazi_ ,” she said. She took her phone back out. “I gotta text Nora about this, holy shit.”

“Jesus, Mona,” Ava said, standing up. “She offered and I couldn’t exactly say no.”

“Ava. I know you. You could’ve said no.” Mona lowered her phone with a smaller smile. “I did watch you use some of your self-defensive training on a dude who was getting too handsy once, you could totally gently manhandle a beauty guru.”

“Okay. Maybe I could have said no,” she caved.

“Nora’s gonna freak out about this, you know.”

“I thought you were the big Z-Nationer in that relationship,” Ava asked.

Mona shrugged. “She likes her too.”

“Yeah. Fine.”

\--

Much to her surprise, the show was going well. 

She couldn’t really be that surprised, though. Her fans were wonderful as always, her segment with Mona about the top five murders they’d covered together had been a hit, and now they had moved onto questions.

“Uh, hi.” A fan in a _Be Gay, Do True Crime_ shirt - what had become the show’s unofficial slogan - was standing at the microphone they’d set up near the ‘stage’. “How was it like to do an episode of StabCast with someone like Zari Tarazi?”

Ava glanced back into the crowd where Zari was still failing to blend into a crowd of true crime geeks. “It was… unexpected,” she finally started. “When she offered to come onto the show, it really caught me off guard - Mona can attest to that. Yeah, she was doing her best Shia LaBeouf impression to try to encourage me to say yes.

The crowd laughed at that, which gave her a little time to think of how to talk about it and not embarrass herself.

“But, it was fun. We had a good time recording and I thought it was going to be weird since we didn’t really know each other that well yet but… Yeah. Fun.” 

Her eyes landed on Zari. From this far away, it was hard to exactly see anyone’s face. But she could have sworn she was smiling.

“We’ve discussed doing something together again, so we’ll see,” Ava said, grinning. “Next question?”

\--

By the end of the show _and_ a couple of meet and greets, Ava was exhausted. She just felt like going back to her room and face planting on the bed, but at the same time she knew she was too hyped up to really sleep.

Mona was laid across the couch as she gathered their things from the back room. “We should do this more often,” she said, eyes closed.

“Yeah, this was fun.” Ava caught her reflection in the mirror on the wall, seeing the makeup still on her eyes. 

“So, what do you want to do now? I heard this hotel has a great restaurant, we could see if it’s open?” she asked. 

“Right now, I’m more in the mood for room service,” she told her. 

As she slung her blazer over her arm, the door opened. Zari stepped in, lighting up when she spotted them. “Oh, you’re still here. Thank God.” She shut the door behind her and perched on the arm of the couch, careful of Mona’s feet. “You two did amazing. It was way more entertaining than I thought it’d be.”

“Thanks,” Ava said. “It helped to have a friendly face in the audience, though.”

She smiled a little, looking down at her hands in her lap. 

“I thought you’d be back at your apartment by now. You know, beauty sleep and all,” Mona commented, sitting up a little. 

“I know, but I wanted to swing by before I left,” Zari said. “Just to tell you how you did.”

Ava pulled her blazer back on, clearing her throat. “Are you in a rush? ‘Cause Mona and I were going to swing by the hotel restaurant. I’ve heard it’s pretty great.”

Her friend gave her a suspicious look, which she ignored in favor of seeing how their guest reacted. As tired as she was, she could probably order a coffee and stay awake forever for a chance to spend more time with her.

Zari made a sad little sound, slumping her shoulders. “I would love to, but it’s getting kinda late.” She got up and headed back to the door, but she whirled around to face them before she left. “Remember. 8 AM sharp.”

“Definitely,” Ava said. “0800. See you then.”

She grinned and dipped out. The moment the door was shut, Mona sat up completely. 

“I thought you were in more of a room service mood,” she said, raising her eyebrows. 

“I-” She stammered for a moment. “I had a sudden burst of energy.”

“Uh-huh.” Standing up, Mona shot her a grin. “Let’s get upstairs so you can get your beauty sleep for _Zari_ tomorrow.”

“I should have tried to get Nora to come,” Ava muttered, gathering up the last of her things. At least she had something to look forward to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when am i gonna upload next? no guarantees but probably sometime within the next two weeks  
> reminder that u can always go to my tumblr @ the same name n scream abt zava in my inbox, i'm always down to talk abt these two. stay stabby, y'all


	3. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava films a video with Zari, and the two get to know each other a little better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hell yeah babey i've been keeping up with this more frequently than i thought i would lol  
> new chapter! yeah! what more can i say other than uhhh Enjoy

That next morning, Ava was having what some people would call a shitty morning. She’d forgotten to set an alarm and had rushed through her morning routine half-asleep. Mona had already left their hotel room to do some sight-seeing and left the note _Good luck with Z!_

Well, it was a little too late for luck. Or eating breakfast. 

By the time she arrived at Zari’s apartment building, she was caffeinated and awake. In her hand she had a tray of coffees from the place down the street - one for herself, and a decaf low fat mocha for her host. At least she’d had time for that. Barely.

Ava had found her way to her apartment easily, through the posh lobby and past a particularly snooty doorman. She ignored his side-eye as she made her way into the elevator. 

When she knocked on the door, she was surprised to be greeted by Zari herself. She looked more casual than she’d ever seen her in white skinny jeans and a striped crop-top. Without her heels, she was shorter than she had expected. “Hey,” she said, leaning against the doorway a little. “You made it.”

“Yeah, of course,” Ava said. Her sour mood from earlier dissolved when she saw her. “I brought coffee.”

“Oh, thank you!” She glanced down, running a hand through her hair. “Your pants are… interesting,” she said with a forced smile.

Looking down at her plaid pants, she sighed. “At least I don’t look like a slam poet.”

“Yeah,” Zari said, nodding. “I’m all for patterns, but you still look like you’re going golfing after this.” She moved aside to let her walk in. 

“You could just say you don’t like them,” Ava joked.

“No, I like them, I just…” She clasped her hands together. “Wouldn’t wear them.”

Ava took a look around as she walked inside. Her apartment was, unsurprisingly, very nice. What was surprising to her was that it wasn’t nice in the cold, distant way that fancy houses tended to look.

She wouldn’t say that it wasn’t expensive-looking. Everything in here was probably way out of her budget just by the glance of it. That wasn’t to say there wasn’t a certain sense of comfort. It was smaller on the inside than she had expected, with a cozy looking living room and a piano. In a cat tree that looked more elaborate than any pet furniture she’d seen, she spotted Mithra sleeping in the light of a giant window.

“My team isn’t working today,” Zari told her. “You know, weekends and all.” 

That explained why it was so quiet. From their conversations, it sounded like she was closer to her employees to anyone else, even her own family. Ava could understand it - it wasn’t like she wasn’t a little secluded herself - but it felt strange that someone like her could be so popular and still seem so… lonely. 

“Uh-huh.” She nodded, walking over to the piano. Being nosy wasn’t her thing, but she was a little curious. There were a few Streamys and other video awards displayed that she didn’t recognize, but there were photos as well. 

“You remembered to get decaf, right?” she asked, snapping Ava out of her thoughts. She turned around to look at Zari, sitting down on the couch. As she did, she stretched her arms above her head, the hem of her shirt revealing another inch of brown skin. It was a very distracting inch. 

“Of course,” she said, tearing her eyes from her midriff. “Decaf low fat mocha, right?” 

“Right indeed.” She leaned down to grab her cup. “Maybe we can actually finish our drinks before they’re cold.”

Ava walked over and took her own drink out of the tray. “Yeah, that’d be nice.” She sat in the chair near the couch, settling into the soft cushions. “So, when I do get to find out what we’re doing today? Unless you’re going to take me out to buy more pants first.”

“I’ll spare you for today,” Zari replied, taking a sip. “ And I promise we’re doing something fun.”

“We might have different definitions of ‘fun’,” she joked, sipping her coffee.

“Oh, it’ll be fun,” she said. “But if I tell you now, then it won’t be a surprise.”

“It’s a surprise?” Ava asked. That was another worrying phrase. The last time Mona had told her she was going to surprise her, the two of them had gotten trapped in an escape room with Nora. “Now you’re scaring me.

Zari only gave her a grin over the lid of her cup. “You’ll see.”

\--

“Hey, guys,” Zari said to the camera. “I know it’s what everyone’s been waiting for - StabCast’s own Ava Sharpe!”

Ava, beside her, raised a hand and waved. They’d moved into her little studio after finishing their coffee, but she still didn’t know what they were doing. “Hey.”

“Now, for those who don’t know, can you give us a little rundown of your podcast?” she asked, turning to her with a smile.

“Uh… it’s a true crime podcast that I’ve been doing for the past three - no, four years.” Being in front of the camera wasn’t her strong suit, but she hoped her nerves didn’t show. She smiled back at Zari.

“I hope you’ve remembered what you’ve learned over those years, because it’s time for a little quiz.”

With that, she pulled out a set of index cards. Ava thought her fear from earlier was somewhat appropriate as she spotted the pink ink. 

She laughed. “I didn’t know I was signing up for a trivia competition.”

Zari took off the rubber band, still grinning at her. “I didn’t pick out anything too hard, don’t worry.” She cleared her throat, turning over the first card. “You ready?”

“Sure,” Ava replied. “Hit me with your best shot.”

“Oh, this one is an easy one. ‘In which Wisconsin city did Jeffrey Dahmer live?’”

With a scoff, she said, “Oh, that is easy. Milwaukee.”

She turned the card over. “Correct!”

“Yeah, he was known as the ‘Milwaukee monster’,” Ava added. For once her great memory with random true crime knowledge would come in handy for something other than trying (and failing) to impress girls. 

“Stealing my fun facts, there, Ava,” Zari said, laughing. “Let’s see if you can keep up this streak.”

She’d managed to keep it up until the second-to-last question, when she’d blanked on H.H. Holmes’ real name.

“Time’s up!”

“Hey, you didn’t say there was any time limit-” she started to say, before Zari cut her off.

“The answer is ‘Herman W. Mudgett’.” She grim

aced. “Yeah, if I had a last name like Mudgett, I’d change it too.”

“Mudgett! How could I forget _Mudgett_?” Ava asked. She couldn’t help her laughter and apparently, neither could her host. 

“Sorry, but the way you said _Mudgett_ -” Zari bit back another laugh. 

Ava smiled, moving a piece of hair out of her face. “Mudgett.”

She watched as she covered her mouth, snorting a little as she laughed. “Stop!” she said, her hand falling from her face for just a moment. There was a wide grin on her face when she did, ducking her head.

 _God, she’s adorable when she laughs like that_ , she thought. _Oh shit_. 

“I’m so going to have to cut that,” Zari muttered to herself once she’d stopped laughing. Even then, her cheeks were still flushed. As she tucked her hair back again, Ava looked at her as her mind went into overdrive. 

“Okay. Last one.” She cleared her throat. “‘This fatal female stalked Florida highways and truck-stops while luring men with prostitution, then killed and robbed them. Who is she?’”

She hadn’t really processed the question at first, but Ava finally said, “Oh. Aileen Wuornos, with a kill count of seven.”

“Ooh, seven. Lucky number,” Zari said, setting her index cards down. “Congrats! You’re a real serial killer aficionado!” 

“Yeah, you read about five books on John Wayne Gacy and the ‘killer clown’ thing really sticks with you,” she joked.

“And I thought clowns were creepy before that,” she said. “Okay, Ava, thank you for coming and filming with me.”

“My pleasure.”

“We should say some fun to sign off. Like - how about ‘Stay stabby, Z-Nation’?” Zari suggested.

“Oh, okay.” Ava looked towards the camera. “On the count of three?”

“Yeah.” She smiled again, turning to the camera. “One- two- three.”

“Stay stabby, Z-Nation!” they said together. 

\--

A bit of time had passed since they finished filming, but Ava still found herself in her living room.

The late morning sun had cast the room in light as she sat on the couch. Zari was by the window, scooping up Mithra. “You gonna put up a fight in front of a guest?” she asked, cradling him against her chest. 

Ava was no stranger to that _aha_ moment that occurred when one realized they had a crush. She had thought she had felt that emotion already that day, really. It was hard to ignore the way her breath caught in her throat when she looked over at the way the sun formed a halo around her, reprimanding the ornery tabby in her arms. 

When she looked up at her with a smile, her heart melted just a little. God, she really was fucked.

Zari came over with Mithra, resigned to his fate. The little plastic covers on his claws peaked through and for a moment, she was struck out of her thoughts to wonder which poor assistant had to do that job. She sat beside her on the couch, close enough that her arm brushed against hers.

“We should totally do this again,” she said, letting him rest in her lap. “Maybe we could try filming a video at your place.”

“Yeah, I’ll let you raid my closet and you can judge my fashion choices,” Ava said. 

“Don’t even joke, I’d love to get inside your closet.” Zari looked down at her pants again. “And figure out if those are your only pair of plaid pants.”

“I’m pretty sure these are my only pair, if it really worries you that much.”

“Oh, thank God,” she joked. She let out a sigh of relief, pressing a hand against her chest. “I’ve been stressing about that all morning.”

Ava let out a small laugh at her dramatics. “Nice to know I could alleviate your fear.”

As she went back to petting Mithra, Zari snuggled a little closer. “Now I can sleep easy tonight.”

She was about to add something when her phone started to buzz. “Oh, that’s probably Mona.” But she didn’t make any attempt to move as she answered the phone. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Oh, I’m just grabbing lunch,” she heard Mona say. “Did you head back to the hotel yet?”

“Uh…” Ava glanced over at Zari. “I’m still at her apartment.”

“Ooh!” She could imagine the grin on her face. “Well, have fun.”

“Thanks,” she said. 

“Oh, tell her I say hi,” Zari said.

She smiled. “Zari says hi.”

Mona squealed over the phone, and Ava wished she could be there to see the confused people around her. “Oh my God! Tell her I said hi back!”

Moving her phone from her ear, she turned to Zari and said, “Mona says hi back.” As she put her ear to the phone again, she caught her soft smile. “I’ll let you get back to your lunch. Don’t get arrested. I don’t want to call Nora for bail money.”

“I’ll try not to.” With that, she hung up.

“Does your friend frequently get arrested?” Zari asked, sounding more than a little concerned.

Ava paused. “No.”

“That was a worrying pause.”

“Her best client is… an ex-arsonist?” It sounded weird even when she said it, but it was the truth.

Zari gave her a wide-eyed look. “I thought her client was Rebecca Silver.” When she made the connection, she started to laugh. “Oh! I never would have guessed.”

“Trust me, I was surprised too.” 

If Ava had a choice, she would stay here for the rest of her stay in New York. She knew that she and Mona were flying back tomorrow morning, but she could stay here in her apartment forever.

With a smile, she held out her hand for Mithra to sniff. The tabby took a moment, before rubbing his face against her hand. 

“He must like you,” Zari said, watching her scratch him behind his ear. “Mithra has a bit of a mean streak.”

“Yeah, didn’t he nearly claw the eye out of one of your makeup people once?” Ava asked. The story had nearly made her choke on an ill-timed sip of water, complete with a photo of the offender with a sign that said, _I ruined a guy’s eyeliner because he tried to pet me_.

“Yep. This little asshole has been a sour one ever since I adopted him,” she told her in the fondest tone one could use for their pet cat. “But I love him.”

She took her hand away from Mithra’s face. “He’s a sweetheart when he isn’t trying to injure people.”

Zari grinned at her. “Oh, definitely.” She picked him up off her lap and cuddled him close. “Aren’t you, my sweet little bastard?” With that, she planted a kiss against his cheek and let him down on the cushion next to her. 

Ava watched him leap down. “So, you have any plans for the rest of the day?”

“Not really. Why?” she asked.

She shrugged. “I was thinking we could do something for lunch.”

At the word _lunch_ , she lit up. “Yes. That sounds great.” Zari stood up, holding out a hand to pull her up. “I know the _best_ place to go.”

\--

When she had offered to take Ava to the best place to eat in New York City, she would admit that she had expected to get dragged to some hipster-y restaurant or a fancy restaurant out of her price range. She hadn’t expected to get dragged to a diner that didn’t seem particularly special.

“I had a hankering for pancakes,” Zari had admitted to her as they walked in. “Besides, this is my special spot. No paparazzi, no big crowds of fans.” She sighed, hanging off her arm. “It’s not the nicest place, but their food is to die for.”

And Ava had to admit, it had been pretty good. The two of them were polishing off what was left of the fries that had come with her club sandwich as they waited for the check.

“So Nora comes home from work to find Mona and I looking over her fucking… conspiracy board for next week’s episode and asks, ‘Should I be concerned?” She laughed, dipping a fry into the puddle of ketchup on the side of the plate. “And Mona says, ‘Like this is the first time you’ve walked in on me and my conspiracy board.’”

Zari started to laugh, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “Wow. Your friends sound… fun.”

“They’re weird,” Ava said with a grin. “But I love them. Besides, my friend in college had a bit of conspiracy love as well. History major.” She sighed. “What about you? Any fun stories?”

She looked down at the plate. “Not like yours,” she admitted. “Outside of my team, I don’t… hang out. With a lot of people.”

“Oh.” That soured the mood pretty quick. “Well… you’ve got me.”

“Yeah.” Zari pressed her lips together. She’d reapplied her pink lipgloss after she’d finished her pancakes. “I guess I do,” she said with a smile. “Tell me about that college friend of yours.”

“Ah, Nate? He’s more like a brother to me now, but-”

The waiter came by and laid the check down. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said, giving them a grin.

Before Ava could even start to look for her wallet, Zari picked up the check. “It’s on me,” she said.

“You don’t have to do that,” she tried to tell her. “I’m fine with splitting it.”

“It’s fine, you got us coffee this morning.” She laughed as she stood up. “Besides, I have the money.”

Ava was about to fight her on it, but it was too late. After all, she did have a point. “Fine,” she muttered as she got up.

Zari wrapped a hand around her arm as they walked. “Come on. Maybe we can squeeze in time for a round of golf before you have to head back to the hotel.”

“My pants aren’t that bad!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> less than a week til legends returns to our screens! which hopefully shouldn't fuck with my writing too much (this is the fic less affected by canon why would it lol).  
> next chapter... things happen? i'm usually better with foreshadowing what's to come but i'm writing this the night before i post lol. planning n efficiency works well until it's late and you're trying to be witty. however i can promise more nora since she actually hasn't shown up much. i can promise some nora. nora is indeed in the next chapter. and that's a promise.  
> i'll leave now. hope u enjoyed the chapter.


	4. chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava makes a bold move.

Ava barely looked up from her copy of _Helter Skelter_ as she grabbed her cell phone. “Hey, Zari.”

“Hi.” She heard a deep sigh from the other end of the line. “You would not believe how nice it is to hear your voice right now.”

A couple of months had passed since her live show in New York, but they managed to squeeze in time for a phone call every day. 

With a smile, she marked her spot and closed the book. “What’s up?” she asked her.

“I just spent the last half hour listening to Les-Lay talk about potential agencies to hire for security for an event. It gets boring after about five minutes,” Zari said. “How about you?”

“What else? Research.”

“Ooh! What’s new for StabCast?” she asked enthusiastically. 

“Uh, Charles Manson. It’s not my typical brand of true crime, but I have Nora helping me with this little miniseries.” She stood up, stretching as she did. “It’s actually pretty fun.”

“You’re the only person I know who calls researching cult leaders _fun_ ,” Zari told her, laughing a little. 

“I mean-” Ava ran a hand through her hair. “No, the actual research is kinda fun.”

She just laughed again, and wow, what a pleasant sound. Not for the first time since she’d come back to D.C., she found herself missing her. 

There was something that made talking on the phone never seem like enough with her. Every time they talked, whether it just be five minutes or an hour, she always found herself wanting more. 

Ava made her way to the kitchen, holding her phone in place with her shoulder as she poured herself a glass of water. “What’s this event you’re planning, anyways? Or is that some need-to-know basis information?”

“We’re releasing a line of dressy sneakers in February, and we have this big show planned and everything.” Zari’s voice was full of excitement as she continued to explain, “You know, we’re still in the works with everything, but it’s supposed to be pretty epic. If it all works out.”

“Wow.” She set her glass down. “Sounds like it should be pretty cool.”

“Yeah. Means I’m gonna be pretty busy for a while, but it’s worth the lack of free time.”

“How busy?” Ava found herself asking. “Maybe we could squeeze in that collab before everything gets hectic.

“Oh.” Zari paused. “Hold on. Let me check with Les-Lay.”

“Cool.”

It seemed like an eternity until she picked back up. “Okay, I’ve got some time free next month. Does… the 17th work for you?”

“Yeah, that’s fine for me.” Ava could still probably do her editing that day if they didn’t take too long. “Are you still gonna raid my closet?”

“I think I have to. At least to check if you didn’t get any more plaid pants.”

She couldn’t resist cracking up. “Man, those pants really offended you, huh?”

“Ava, you’re above plaid pants. Do you know that?” Zari told her.

“I’m getting the gist, yeah,” she replied. “I didn’t go out and buy a shit ton as soon as I came back from New York.”

“I had more faith in you than that.”

She wished she could see her right now. Ava could only imagine her lounging on the couch in one of her expensive minidresses, with Mithra on her lap and a smile on her face. 

“I’ve missed you,” she said, finally.

Zari didn’t respond right away, but she said, “Me too.”

With that, she hung up, leaving her alone in her apartment. 

\--

“I think it’s important for me to keep up a good image for little girls like me who could have used a queer Muslim role model while growing up-“

“Are you listening to your girlfriend’s podcast?”

Ava looked up from wiping the counter. Nora had let herself in, still dressed in her suit from work. They were supposed to record the second episode of her Manson series that afternoon, but somehow that had slipped her mind.

Well. The _how_ was simple. She’d been thinking about Zari coming over tomorrow for their wardrobe video. 

“Hello to you too,” she said, pausing _Z-Hour_. “Couldn’t even knock?”

“You gave me a key for a reason.” She took off her baby blue blazer, draping it over the back of the couch as she leaned against it. “You’re avoiding the question.”

“Zari’s not my girlfriend,” Ava said, going back to cleaning up the counter. “Or at least, I’m pretty sure she isn’t.”

Nora clicked her tongue as she shook her head. “Falling into that clueless lesbian stereotype a little there, aren’t we?”

She shrugged. “I mean - it’s not like we’ve kissed. Or that she’s _really_ asked me out.”

“But she calls you all the time, is flying all the way from New York just to do a video together, ordered you sweets from that fancy bakery a few streets down when you said you were having a shitty day - by the way, did you tell her that those macarons were-” She kissed her fingertips and sent it into the air. “ _Tres bien_? Seriously. Love that place.”

“I made sure she knew,” Ava said with a smile.

“All I’m saying is that none of my friends ever buy me fancy pastries and send them my way from a whole other city.” 

“So… she’s courting me.”

“Courting.” Nora grinned. “That’s a good way of putting it.”

Ava paused in her task. “Man, I haven’t looked at _Persuasion_ at all since I picked it up for tonight’s meeting.”

She shrugged. “Guess we’re both screwed.”

\--

Later that afternoon, she was sitting on the couch with Nora as they tried to go over the Sparknotes for that month’s book.

“I can believe you managed to spend a _month_ living with your girlfriend, Ms. ‘I’d Totally Sleep With Jane Austen’, and not even pick up a copy of _Persuasion_ ,” Ava said, peering over her laptop. “I bet there’s five different copies in your apartment alone.”

“Mick has a book launch this month, Mona’s been too busy to notice the lack of a Regency-era romantic aura about me,” she replied.

In the kitchen, she heard her phone buzzing from where she was charging it. With a sigh, Ava handed over the laptop and stood up.

“Who’s that?” Nora asked with a smug grin.

She wasn’t surprised when she checked the caller ID. “It’s Zari.”

“Ooh, Miss Tarazi takes her chance to win Lady Sharpe’s affection once again!”

Ignoring her, she answered the call. “Hey.” Ava smiled. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to tell you that I made it to D.C. safely.” Zari made a happy noise. “How’s your day going?”

“It’s fine. I’m just getting ready for book club.“ She glanced over at Nora, who was pretending to read the summary for _Persuasion_. “Uh, do you have any plans tonight? Here? In D.C.?”

“Hm, not really. I was probably just going to order room service or something,” she said, not sounding particularly interested. 

“Do you want to come over and join us?” Ava asked. 

Nora gave her a thumbs up. 

“Uh… book club isn’t really my thing. I mean, isn’t a little late for a book club invite?” She heard Zari’s nervous laughter over the phone. “I thought you had to read the book first.”

“I’m literally reading the synopsis for the novel right now, it’ll be fine. I’ll send you the link to the Sparknotes.”

She took a long pause. That was never good. But finally she asked, “Are you sure your friends don’t mind?”

Given that she could still see Nora’s shit eating grin, she said, “No. They’ll be fine with it.”

She took a longer time to respond, somehow. “Cool. So what time should I come over?

“We’re meeting at my place at six for dinner. Don’t worry, it’s vegetarian and - well, I can’t guarantee it’s low-carb.” Ava glanced over at the clock - it was barely 4 o’clock now. She probably had time to adjust the recipe for four people instead of three. 

“Oh. Okay.” Zari cleared her throat. “I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah. Bye.” She hung up and let out a heavy sigh.

“Oh, man, Mona’s gonna collapse into a puddle of happiness when she hears about this,” Nora said. 

Ava put her phone down. “Might even make her forget that we know nothing about the book.” She headed back over. “Come on, let’s finish this before I have to start dinner.”

\--

“You _what_?” Mona asked when Nora told her about their surprise guest.

Ava stammered, before finally saying, “Blame Nora.”

“What did _I_ have to do with this?” she asked from the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine. 

“You didn’t stop me! In fact, you encouraged me.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m responsible,” Nora replied with a shrug. “Should make for a fun night, and not just during book club.”

“No-” She held a finger up before Mona could start. “I don’t need the matchmaker act tonight. That’s the last thing I need.”

“Aw, but Ava,” she said, “Your crush on Zari is so adorable. It’s hard not to want to play matchmaker.”

“It’s true,” Nora said. “It’s like telling someone not to smile while looking at cute kitten videos. Truly impossible.”

She groaned. “Why do I allow the two of you into my home?”

“Because we’re fun?” Mona suggested. 

“Because we bring wine,” Nora added. 

“Yeah, that one.”

The doorbell rang, causing Mona to squeal. “Ava, go get it!”

“If you’re so excited, why don’t you get it?” she asked, getting up anyways.

When Ava opened the door, she was greeted by Zari looking more put together than someone who had spent the afternoon traveling ought to. She had a bouquet of pink and yellow flowers in her hands that she immediately glanced down at when she caught her looking at them. 

“Hey. I, uh, thought I should bring something,” she explained, handing them to her. 

“Thanks,” Ava replied, still having trouble processing the fact that she was handing her flowers that were nicer than any grocery store bouquet she’d seen in her life. “Uh, come in. Nora and Mona are already here.”

From inside, she heard Nora yell, “Did you bring any macarons?”

“Should I have brought macarons instead?” Zari asked, seeming genuinely confused.

“No, the flowers are fine.” She moved aside to let her in. “My friend’s just an ass.”

“But you love me,” Nora said. “Hey. I’m Nora.”

“Hi.” Zari waved, still looking a little unsure. “Hey… Mona? Nice to see you again.”

Mona grinned from her spot on the couch. “Hey!”

She shut the door and went into the kitchen. “I think I should have a vase around here somewhere. Just make yourself comfortable.”

Nora slid up to her side as she was filling up a vase with water. “Bringing flowers does seem like an act of courtship,” she commented.

Ava turned to her with a scowl. “Thanks. I hadn’t noticed.”

She patted her back. “I won’t meddle too much, but I can’t make any promises for Mona.” With that, she went back out into the living room. 

Well, book club was about to get a lot more interesting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i couldn't think of a witty way to start this chapter so uh. yeah. i might be going to my og plan of updating every other week and alternating with posting chapters of my gc fic so this a warning abt that. u know where to find me by now so stay stabby y'all


	5. chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava and Zari finally get their shit together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow me posting on the same day as an episode, it's a miracle

When she had really thought about it, Ava hadn’t really worried about her book club friends liking Zari. Or her liking them. She’d already met Mona and, well, Nora could charm her way into people’s hearts fairly quickly.

But as she watched them all talk, she had the feeling she wasn’t quite used to this. Book club had become a part of her life to measure out time, to learn what was going on in her friends’ lives. It was normal but… she supposed there wasn’t as much time for normal in the lives of the more famous.

“And that’s how he found out he had a daughter?” Zari was asking Mona. 

“Yep.”

Ava took her seat beside her, handing her a glass of water. “Are you guys talking about Mick?”

“I had to tell her the story,” Mona defended.

“I couldn’t stop her,” Nora said, an arm around her shoulders.

She chuckled, bumping her own shoulder with Zari’s. “So, Nora, how’s work been lately?”

With a grin, she set her glass of wine down. “It’s been pretty good, actually. Yesterday, I helped finalize the adoption of this one little girl who’s been bouncing from foster home to foster home since she got put into the system.”

“Aw, that’s nice,” Ava said.

“Yeah. She brought me a card that said, ‘ _Thank You Ms. Nora’_ with a… copious amount of glitter,” Nora told them.

“It was adorable,” Mona added. “I’m proud of you, babe.”

“Thanks.” She turned back to Ava though. “But today, Ava and I recorded an episode of StabCast. It turned out pretty well, don’t you think?”

And there it was. Her friends had been taking the chance to play matchmaker whenever they could. It was slightly annoying, to say the least. 

Well. It was better than Mona shoving the two of them in a pantry to figure out their shit. 

“Oh, yeah, it was that one about the weird hippie cult dude, right?” Zari asked before she could answer.

“Charles Manson?” she replied with a grin.

“Names aren’t my thing,” she explained with a wave of her hand. “I listened to the first episode on the plane ride here, it was actually so interesting. You know, in a weird, creepy way.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed our edu-tainment style of storytelling,” Nora commented. “I just sit there and make… jokes or input with my own anecdotes. Ava does a lot of the work.”

Before she could say that her friend did more than add in jokes, Zari said, “Yeah.” She bumped her shoulder as she looked over at her. “Every time I call you, you’re always reading about this serial killer or that murder case.”

“It’s a full time gig, being an expert,” Ava joked. 

“Seems like it,” she replied, laughing. It was an awkward little chuckle, one that made her heart melt a little more. Why was she so weak for her laugh?

Mona cleared her throat. “I’m going to grab more wine.” 

Before Nora could respond, she was pulled up by her girlfriend as they went into the kitchen… leaving the two of them in the living room.

“How’s that shoe project going?” she asked Zari, taking advantage of the privacy. 

“Uh, you know, it’s going well,” she answered, drumming her fingers on the side of her glass. There was a faint red stain on the rim from her lipstick, yet it still looked perfect. “We just finalized designs - not that I’ll give you a peak, but - I think they turned out pretty well.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Ava said, smiling. “What about the show?”

“Yeah, no, that’s been.. a lot.” Zari chuckled again. “But devoting a few months of my life to a project every now and then is part of the job.”

“I do way more research that any person should about Charles Manson, and you… get caught up in finding venues and catering. Seems about right.”

“It’s way more than that,” she told her, leaning against her shoulder. “There’s _that_ , but it’s also who to invite, who _not_ to invite, if it’s worth the publicity or not… blah, blah, blah.”

Ava laughed. “Blah, blah, blah?”

“Being famous is a whole career of its own,” she explained. “It’s not as interesting as- podcasting or helping kids get adopted.”

“It doesn’t sound that boring,” she replied, resting her chin on her hand. “Not to me.”

Zari gave her a soft smile, before looking down at her lap. “So you don’t mind if I complain about stressful it is to find a good artist to play the event?”

“I mean-“ Ava stammered. 

“I was teasing,” she said. “I’ll wait until after we film the video to complain your ear off.”

She chuckled. “I’m looking forward to it.”

In the kitchen, Nora leaned over to her girlfriend. “They’re totally gonna sleep together after we leave,” she whispered.

Mona nodded. “Totally.” They clinked their wine glasses together, before heading out to rejoin them.

\--

Ava waved to Nora and Mona as they headed out. 

“Be safe!” Nora called out with a grin.

“See you later,” Ava replied, deliberately trying to ignore that. With the two of them gone, she guessed it was finally time. 

In the living room, Zari was lounging in her favorite chair, phone in hand. She wasn’t sitting in it properly, with her legs crossed over the arm of the chair. Somehow, she even managed to make that seem classy. 

When she noticed her coming back in, she glanced up and said, “And then there were two.”

This was the moment she’d been waiting for all night, without her friends to meddle. Yet, she felt like she couldn’t. At least, not right now.

“Yeah,” Ava said. She paused, leaning against the arm of the couch. “You know, I think I forgot dessert.”

“I guess your friend was right.” Zari put her phone down. “I should have brought macarons.” 

“Too bad the bakery’s probably closed by now,” she replied.

“I could always call and ask for a favor.”

Ava laughed. “Would you really use your reputation for sweets?”

She shrugged with a smile. “It wouldn’t be the worst use of five million subscribers,” Zari joked. “Maybe we could see if anything’s open.”

“Sure, let’s do it.”

“Cool.” She got up from the chair and joined her on the arm of the couch.

There wasn’t much room for two people to sit on it, but she didn’t seem to mind. Ava froze before moving over a little. 

Zari had opened DoorDash on her phone. “There’s gotta be something open this late,” she muttered. 

She peered over her shoulder, seeing a familiar name. “Hey, that’s a diner near here that does delivery. They’ve got milkshakes.” 

“Ooh, great idea!” She clicked it. “What flavor? I won’t judge.”

“Hm… vanilla,” Ava answered.

Zari hummed. “Okay, I’m judging a little.”

“Well, what flavor are you going to get?”

She looked back up to respond, but with that the lack of distance seemed to hit her. “Uh, I was going to go with- strawberry.” Her dark eyes locked on hers as she paused. “Duh,” she added with a chuckle.

“Good plan,” Ava said. She tried not to let her eyes wander to her lips, to think around how the lipstick she was wearing was the same shade as a ripe strawberry. Fitting, she figured. 

“Yeah, I should finish this order,” Zari muttered. But it was another few seconds before she actually looked back down at her phone. 

As she internally scolded herself for not taking the chance, she watched her put in the order.

“Okay, we have… twenty four minutes.” She looked back up at Ava. “What do you want to do?”

\--

The answer to that ended up seeing whatever was on TV. After a mild argument about whether to watch _27 Dresses_ or check out what was on Oxygen, they had ended up on Food Network.

“Ugh, how are they expected to use shrimp and _candy apples_ in an appetizer?” Zari asked. She had joined Ava on the couch, practically sitting in her lap as they watched. But she seemed more interested in the show than the woman she was all over. “This show is impossible.”

“That’s what makes it so fun,” she replied.

She rested a hand on her shoulder, absentmindedly playing with a strand of her hair. “Hm. I see how it could be fun.”

They watched the show in silence for a while, until the judges were choosing which chef should be sent home for the first round.

Ava glanced over at her, right at the moment she looked back at her. “What?”

“What?”

“There’s a whole couch, and you’re here,” she said, saying the first thing that was on her mind. Well, actually, what had been on her mind the entire time they’d been sitting like this.

“Yeah?” Zari dropped the strand of hair she was holding, giving her a quizzical look. “I thought-”

Realization hit her like a bus as she met her eyes. “Oh. _Oh_. I mean, it still can be.” 

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” she stated plainly. “But... this does count as a date?”

“Do you want it be a date?” Ava asked.

“When you invited me to book club, I thought it was sort of a double date sitch,” Zari admitted. “Not just… book club.”

She smiled. “You know, that would have actually been a smart idea.”

“Yeah, it would have been.”

Ava laughed, cupping her cheek. “Well, then can I do what I’ve wanted to do all night?”

“If you mean kissing me, go right ahead.”

“You think for two people who mostly talk on the phone, we'd be better at this whole communication thing.”

That had her cracking up right as she leaned in. Or, well, as she tried to.

The doorbell rang in that split second before their lips met. Ava pulled away with a groan. “Seriously?” she muttered.

She got off her lap with a half-hearted shrug. “I guess I’ll get our milkshakes.”

“Go ahead,” she said. With that, she watched her head to the door. Life, it seemed, had abysmal timing.

“We have two choices,” Zari told Ava as she placed the milkshakes on the counter. “We put these in the freezer, forget about them, and go back to what we were doing, or we save the kissing until after dessert.”

“Huh.” She gave it a moment’s thought. “I think I feel like a different kind of a dessert now, actually.”

“Well, then, fuck these milkshakes, I guess.” She placed her hands on Ava’s shoulders and climbed into her lap, properly.

“Fuck these milkshakes?”

Zari gave her a smile before she leaned, placing a hand on her cheek as she did. “Uh-huh.” She couldn’t help but be reminded of their time before her show until she leaned in and there was nothing better to think of than the present. Her lips were soft against hers, in a kiss that was both gentle and firm. 

Ava put a hand against her waist, the other snaking up resting against her arm. She let her kiss her deeper, until she suddenly pulled away.

“We should take this upstairs,” she said, out of breath. Her red lipstick was smeared, and she took a little satisfaction that she was the reason why. 

“Yeah, we probably should.” She peered past her at the milkshakes still waiting on the coffee table. “Though we should throw those in the freezer first.” 

\--

When Ava woke up that morning, it took a moment for her to remember that last night hadn’t been some dream brought on by drinking too much rose. It wasn’t like she had even had that much wine at book club, anyways.

The bed was empty, and she groaned as she got up. Damn. She must have headed back to her hotel to get ready.

Well, at least there was no one to judge her for having a milkshake for breakfast. A coffee affogato this morning actually didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world.

But as she headed out into the hall, she heard noise from downstairs. Ava let her dread slip away and wrapped her robe tighter around herself.

Zari was in the kitchen, frowning over one of her cookbooks. She was still wearing the Brixton shirt that she had borrowed to sleep in, her hair adorably mussed up. It didn’t seem like she noticed her right away, pop music playing from her phone. 

She cleared her throat, barely able to contain her smile. “Good morning.”

Looking up, she reached over to pause her music. “Hey,” she said, smiling back. “I was going to surprise you with breakfast.”

Ava joined her in the kitchen, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Guess I ruined that,” she said. “Whatcha making?”

“I was going to make pancakes, but…” Zari scratched the back of her neck, meeting her eyes. “Breakfast isn’t my strong suit.”

“Well, it’s still early. We can just get dressed and grab breakfast before we start filming.” She pressed a kiss to her cheek and pulled away. “I know some great places nearby, it’s a weekday so they probably won’t be too crowded-”

“Actually,” she said, cutting her off. She didn’t look up at her immediately, tapping her fingers against the heavy book. “I was going to talk to you about that.”

That was never a good start to the morning. “What?” she asked, crossing her arms against her chest. 

“Can we just… keep this on the down-low for now?” Zari turned towards her. “You can tell your book club friends but I don’t want the whole world to know yet.”

“I don’t want to be your secret hook-up, Zari,” Ava replied. 

“I know,” she said, raising her voice. She cleared her throat before continuing. “I really like you, alright? And I’ve never really had - this before. I just wanted you to myself for a while.”

“Oh.” There was nothing more she could really say to respond like that. Putting her emotions into words had always been an art she couldn’t quite nail. Or at least, in words that weren’t too blunt. 

“I know that sounds selfish, but-” Zari didn’t meet her eyes.

“You’re scared.” The words slipped out. “Of what people will think.”

“Not just that,” she told her. “I’m scared that we won’t be able to just be us.”

There was something complicated she’d learned when she went from bureaucrat to podcaster. She had always thought that it would be a way to loosen up and not suck up to people you didn’t like. But even when she thought she was just acting like herself, sometimes it still felt like a performance when she was in front of a microphone.

Dating was hard enough when you weren’t in the public eye.

“I get it.”

Zari glanced back up at her. “You do?”

“I mean, I didn’t count on sneaking around, and all, but I’m not gonna end things because we can’t go out for breakfast or something.” Ava grinned. “Lucky for you, I’m _very_ good at making pancakes.”

With a soft smile, she said, “You sure? I have very high standards when it comes to pancakes.”

“Trust me. I know my pancakes.”

Zari giggled and leaned up to kiss her, throwing an arm around her neck to pull her closer. 

And well, she could get used to that quicker than everything else. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo just a heads-up is that i'll be trying to post chapters weekly until this fic is finished! yeet!


	6. chapter six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zari comes to town for Thanksgiving and Ava's birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man bc i'm me i based ava's bday off the date that 'tender is the nate' actually aired (november 27, 2018) and i forgot that leap years were a thing so i was trying to figure out my own math when i tried to check my work bc i was like. the ep aired on a tuesday but it's on a friday now,,, how does that work? this isn't important to the story but i felt i must bring to attention that i am Like This
> 
> something that is more relevant is that we did actually get confirmation on which college nate went to so i had to change the hudson tee zari borrowed from ava to brixton,,,,,, that i had to change from yale to the first place,,,,, my life is only pain,,,,, yeah. 
> 
> so! another chapter of this fic ft. my favorite himbo! enjoy!

She had been waiting for this all morning. Ava would never call herself needy, but it had been too busy for the last few weeks for either of them to visit each other. She’d had enough time to fly down to New York for their one-month anniversary, which felt like forever ago. Since then, she hadn’t seen Zari in person.

The doorbell rang just as she was wiping flour off her counter. With a quick adjustment of her sweater, she headed to open the door. 

Zari was reapplying her lipstick when she opened up, but she shut her compact and grinned. “Hey, babe,” she said.

“Hey.” None of her neighbors were too nosy, but Ava still decided to hold off on kissing her until they were inside. “Come in.”

She followed her in, slipping off her heels as she did. “Ooh, it smells good in here. Are you baking?”

“Yeah, I’m trying a recipe for butter pecan cookies,” she told her. 

With a smile, Zari turned to her. “Sounds delicious.” She looped her arms around her neck. “I _might_ be able to break my diet for those.”

“Babe, it’s almost Thanksgiving,” Ava teased. “That’s like the anti-diet holiday.”

“Then it’s the perfect time for me to cash in a cheat day.” She leaned in to kiss her and man, she’d missed that. 

Sliding her hands onto her hips, she pulled her closer. If she’d had her way, she would have steered them to the couch. 

However, her cookies had other plans. The timer beeped, interrupting them.

“Every time,” Ava muttered. 

“Guess our timing is just shit,” Zari said, stepping away. 

“Yep.” She headed into the kitchen and grabbed her over mitts before sliding the tray out of the oven. 

“Mm, a little burnt, but they look alright,” her girlfriend said, peering over the counter as she set the tray down.

As Zari reached forward, Ava gently tapped her hand with the oven mitt. 

“Hey,” she said with a pout. 

“They still need to cool, Zari.” She went around to her side of the counter. “But I know the perfect thing to distract us until they’re ready to frost.”

“Well,” she told Ava. “I’d love to hear it.”

\--

When they had finished catching up and the cookies were finally cooled, the two had gone back to the kitchen to frost them and put them away for tomorrow. 

“Dot’s gonna love these,” Ava said, stacking the finished cookies in her Tupperware. 

“You call your mom by her first name?” Zari asked, finishing off her cookie. 

“No. I’ve been spending Thanksgiving with Nate’s family since we were in college together,” she told her. “My parents live in Fresno and we’re just… not close.”

“Mm.” She sucked a bit of frosting off her finger, nodding as she sat perched on the kitchen counter. 

Ava placed the last cookie in the Tupperware, grinning at how perfectly she had stored the whole batch. “What about you? Aren’t you having dinner with your parents?”

“Yeah, my brother’s here from Central City and everything.” Zari didn’t sound very excited about it, watching her put the lid on the container. “We should probably figure out how ‘downlow’ we want to be with this.”

She glanced up at her. They hadn’t talked about any sort of going public since they had first gotten together, but she could count the amount of people who actually knew they were together on one hand. Nora and Mona knew, obviously, but the only person who knew from her girlfriend’s team was her assistant Les-lay. 

Which was, well, manageable. She wouldn’t say fine, but it wasn’t supposed to be a permanent thing. Their actual time together, however scarce, didn’t really require an audience. But she was ready to tell people and not have to swerve around it when she was recording episodes with her friends. 

“I’m fine if you want to tell them,” Ava said, moving the cookies so they were out of the way. “I bet your parents would be thrilled to know you date someone who talks about murder for a living.”

“I wouldn’t say thrilled,” Zari told her, messing with the ring on her pinky. 

“Yeah, no, people never really are,” she replied, grimacing. 

“Then again, you’re better than my ex,” she said with a smile. “They’ll be happy about that.”

Ava leaned against the counter next to her. “Are you ready for this?” she asked. “I know you’re worried about it changing how we do, well, us. And this is kinda one step towards telling more people.” 

She didn’t meet her eyes, still fiddling with her ring. “You know, you’re the first girl I’ve dated since I came out.”

It wasn’t that much of a surprise, really. Maybe the _since I came out_ part had her a little shocked; no wonder she was so good at this ‘keeping it on the downlow’ business. “Uh-huh.”

Zari climbed off the counter. “I thought I’d never be ready, but I _want_ people to know about us. I want to be able to talk about you as my girlfriend and-” She stopped, looking down at the ground. 

“And what?” 

“And knowing it’s not just about how we look together. That I’m talking about who I know cares about me.” When she said that last part, she turned to look at Ava. “I’m ready. Not just for telling our parents.”

She wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled at her. “Me too.”

\--

Ava rang the doorbell to the Heywood’s house. The butter pecan cookies she had made yesterday had lasted through the night, albeit one casualty by her girlfriend. 

She wasn’t as nervous as she could have been. Nate’s mother had adored her since he had first invited her to join him back in their junior year at Brixton. It’d been the first year she’d decided not to go back to Fresno for the holiday, something that she thought she would eventually regret.

Given that she was still waiting on their doorstep more than fifteen years later, it was simple enough to say that she hadn’t.

The door opened, and to her surprise, Nate greeted her with a grin. “Hey. You’re here early.”

“Are you surprised?” Ava asked as she came in. “What’s up?”

“Eh, nothing much,” he said. “You’re like the first one here, so-”

“You mean other than you?”

Nate laughed. “Am I early if I stayed the night?” 

She shook her head. “No, not really.” 

The house was just as she remembered it. Ava hadn’t visited Dot in a while, when last year it felt like she had spent tons of time here after Hank had passed. She’d never been a fan of Nate’s dad for obvious reasons, but his death had hit the family hard. 

“Ava! You made it.” Dot left the kitchen to pull her into a hug.

“Hey.” She hugged her back, careful of the cookies she was still holding. “I brought something.”

“Oh?” 

Ava handed her the Tupperware. “Butter pecan cookies.”

“Thank you.” As she took the cookies, Dot smiled. “Well, I was just about to start on dinner. Patty’s on her way with the boys, but make yourselves comfortable.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” She knew from experience it would be a looong time until dinner. Good thing she’d had lunch before she arrived.

Nate smiled and went to pour them some wine. “So, how are things in your world?”

“Uh, StabCast’s been fine. I know you’ve been listening to our series on Charles Manson,” Ava started.

He handed her a glass. “Yeah, I heard you telling the story about you getting pissed that I ruined your copy of Helter Skelter by spilling coffee on it-”

“I had annotated half the book by then!” She laughed, taking a sip as she realized it was the perfect time to break the news. Better to get it out of the way before Grandma Violet showed up in search of a little gossip, she figured. “Oh, and I’m dating someone.”

Nate perked up. “Ooh. And who is this mystery woman?”

“She’s not a mystery woman,” Ava said.

“Uh, I think I would have noticed if you mentioned a _girlfriend_ on StabCast, so spill,” he told her. 

She smiled. “I mean, I’ve done a few collabs with her, so-”

With a gasp, he cut her off. “You’re dating Zari Tarazi?” Nate whispered under his breath. 

Ava only nodded as he continued to look shocked. She hadn’t expected anything less than shock and awe, really. He was the least daunting person she had to tell.

“Man,” he continued. “I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised but - do you think you can introduce me to her?”

Laughing, she asked, “That’s what you wanna know? If I can arrange a meet in greet?”

He shrugged. “I mean, yeah. Though it is cool to say I could potentially be the future brother-in-law of a celebrity.”

“Woah, you’re thinking a little ahead,” Ava said. “We’ve been dating for like, two months.”

“I’m being optimistic.” Nate took a sip of his wine. “But that’s cool. Not just because you’re dating a super hot celebrity, but…” He shrugged. “Well, I’d say that’s 90% of it.”

“You can just say you can’t remember the last time I had a girlfriend,” she told him.  
“No- that’s not-” He laughed. “It was when I-” Clearing his throat, he finished, “When I was in grad school.”

Ava gave him a stern look. “It _has_ not been since you were in grad school.”

Nate started laughing again. “Okay, okay, maybe not _that_ long.”

She elbowed him gently in his side, trying not to bruise him. That didn’t stop him from dramatically clutching his side. 

“You nearly made me spill my wine,” he said.

“I think you’ll survive.”

As she took another sip, Ava thought, _Well, that was easy_.

\--

After surviving another eventful Thanksgiving at the Heywoods, Ava was more than happy to spend her birthday in. Other than having dinner with Mona and Nora, the plan for the day was to stay in bed watching Netflix with Zari.

They were halfway through season two of GLOW when she paused the episode. “Hey, babe?”

“Hm?” Ava asked, looking up at her from where she was laying in her lap.

“Do you have any popcorn?”

She sat up. “What happened to that diet?”

“Still a cheat day,” Zari said with a smile. “A very long cheat day.”

“Uh-huh.” She grinned and leaned in to kiss her. As she pulled away, she said, “I can get us some popcorn.”

Ava got out of bed and grabbed her robe, still in her pajamas. While she was leaving the room, her girlfriend called out, “Love you!”

That made her pause, bracing the doorway. She turned back. “Love you too,” she told her, still smiling. 

Her smile didn’t go away as she was making popcorn, putting a bag in the microwave. 

Until her phone rang. 

She barely had to check to know it was. As she pressed the answer button, she barely glimpsed at the caller ID. “Hey, Mom,” Ava said.

“Hi, sweetie,” Pam said. “I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” she said, with a smile. “How’s Dad?”

“Oh, your father’s doing well.” Her mom paused, before asking, “How about you? How’s… work?”

“It’s fine.” She knew by now that it was her way of trying to show support, but it never came across as more than small talk. “It’s been busy.”

“I bet,” Pam said with a laugh. After another short silence, she added, “I suppose I should let you be. You’re probably hanging out with all your friends.”

She heard the stair creak, glancing over to see Zari halfway down the stairs. When Ava turned to look at her, she froze. “I’m just hanging out with my girlfriend.”

“Ah. Maybe next time you swing by to visit, you can introduce her to us.”

“I’ll… think about it. Bye, Mom.”

“Bye.”

She hung up just as Zari stepped into the kitchen. She put her phone down on the counter before bracing her hands against it. 

“How much of that did you hear?” Ava asked, turning to look at her. 

“I could hear you from upstairs,” she admitted. “You left the door open.”

“Of course I did,” she muttered. 

Zari wrapped a hand around her bicep, pulling herself closer to her. “I thought you weren’t close to your parents.”

With a shrug, Ava said, “We’re not that close. But, you know, she still wanted to wish me a happy birthday.”

She squeezed her arm lightly. “Yeah,” she said quietly. 

The microwave beeped and broke the silence. 

Standing up more, Zari took her arm away. “So… we’re not doing anything tomorrow, right?”

Ava straightened up, heading over to grab a bowl. “I don’t think so, no.”

“Cool, cool.” She watched as she took the popcorn out of the microwave. “My brother wants to meet you.”

She turned around to face her. “He does? I thought you and your brother weren’t close either?”

“We’re… trying?” Zari clasped her hands together, wringing them a little as she shrugged. “It’s still a little rocky, but he asked and I said I’d ask you.”

As Ava went to fill the bowl with popcorn, she said, “I mean, I wouldn’t mind meeting your brother.” 

“Oh. Great.” 

The slight disappointment in her voice said that she maybe did not think it was actually that great.

She picked up the bowl and walked over to her. “We could go get coffee,” Ava suggested. “Something… lowkey.”

Zari took a piece of popcorn. “That could be good.”

Furrowing her brows together, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said, popping the piece in her mouth. 

“Babe.” Ava placed the bowl down to cross her arms.

As she chewed, Zari gave her the classic _drop it_ look. But dropping it had never been what she was good at.

When she swallowed, she sighed. “It’s stupid.”

“If it’s bothering you, it’s not stupid,” she said, taking her hand. 

“He’s always been… critical of my boyfriends. And, if I’m being honest, I’ve dated a lot of assholes,” Zari started. “I guess I’m just worried about the two of you getting along. I don’t want to have to choose between you or fixing things with my brother.”

“I think unless he’s an utter asshole, I can keep myself from butting heads with him,” Ava assured her. “Besides, he was cool with you having a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, of course he was. He’s not straight, either,” she told him.

“Oh.”

She leaned against her arm a little. “When I came out, he was more supportive than our parents. He noticed, at least.”

Ava squeezed her hand. “Then I will make sure not to fight him in the middle of Jitters."

"Like I have to worry about that-" Zari looked over at her, as if she’d just had a moment of realization. “Holy shit, our first public outing will be you meeting my brother.”

“You know, not the _worst_ way the public could learn about our relationship,” she said.

She chuckled. “Definitely not the worst way.”

“Guess it’s time, huh?”

“Yeah.” Zari let go of her hand to reach around her and grab the popcorn. “Now, let’s go back upstairs so I can judge their wrestling outfits.”

Following her back to her room, Ava couldn’t help but grin.

It was one of the best birthdays she’d had in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo next time we got behrad in here! yay! i fucking miss my boy,,,, bring this man up in here. i say. bout to bring this man up in here. should be a hoot!


	7. chapter seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava meets the family and Zari makes an announcement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's what y'all all have been waiting for - more descriptions of glow  
> and also, behrad.  
> man,,,, love my gals. those lil zava moments in last week's episode were Good and ik i technically posted the last chapter also after that ep but like. i'm still not over that hair thing.

“Do we really have to be here this early?”

Ava turned to Zari with a smile. “On time is late, babe.”

“Behrad has never been on time for anything in his life,” she replied, scowling. “He was late to his own birth.”

She opened the door to Jitters for her, trying to suppress a laugh. They had finally opened one in DC a few years ago, and they had thought it would be a good spot to meet him. Ava was, to say the least, a tad nervous. It wasn’t quite as big of a deal as meeting the parents, but it seemed big enough. 

The biggest worry she had was that he wouldn’t like her. From what Zari had told her, he seemed like a chill guy. But she still found herself worrying that she wouldn’t come off as cool enough, or impressive enough, or something like that. She’d even tried to nail that balance of cool and casual yet nice and composed by opting out of the turtleneck. Though, that was something she regretted when she’d had to dig out the scarf Mona had given her for Christmas last year. 

No one really seemed to notice them, not caring that a notorious celebrity was getting coffee at 9 in the morning with her girlfriend. Well, at least they didn’t have to worry about people being nosy.

The line was surprisingly short as they walked up to the counter, with there being only a few people ahead of them. “How about you grab us a table up there and I’ll order?” she suggested.

Zari glanced up at the loft, with a few free tables. “Sure.”

“Decaf lowfat mocha, right?”Ava asked.

“And a donut?”

She smiled. “And a donut.”

With a moment of hesitation, Zari pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Meet you upstairs.”

“Okay.” As Ava watched her walk away, she caught herself fidgeting with the bracelet on her wrist, running a finger under the thin silver chain. 

She didn’t wear jewelry other than a ring or two that often, but the bracelet had been Zari’s birthday gift. A little knife charm dangled from it, along with the letters _S_ and _C_. It was cute, though she hoped people wouldn’t ask too many questions when they noticed it. She hadn’t even expected any sort of expensive gifts from her for her birthday. But this wasn’t just expensive for the sake of being expensive. 

With a smile, she approached the counter and gave the barista her order. She decided to get a blueberry scone for herself along with her usual vanilla latte.

Upstairs, the only other occupant of the loft was a woman on her laptop, earbuds in and focused on her work. Zari waved as she walked over, pastries in tow. 

“Your donut, milady,” Ava said as she set them down.

“Why, thank you.” She picked up her donut in her left hand, still doing something on her phone. “B says he’s on his way.” With that, she raised her phone up and opened her camera app. “Let’s take a selfie before he gets here.”

“Uh, okay.” She thought by now she’d be a little more used to the selfie, but she found herself an amateur even after all this time. Picking up her scone, she gave the camera a smile.

The picture didn’t turn out as awkward as she thought it would have as Zari put her phone away. “I’ll edit it when we get back to your place,” she said. 

Ava took a bite of her pastry, nodding. Damn, that was tasty. When she’d finished her bite, she asked, “How long do you think it’ll take him?”

“With my brother? Somewhere between five and thirty minutes,” she answered.

“Great.”

Luckily, it seemed her timing had been off. Before their coffee was even up, she spotted someone heading up the stairs.

“Oh, that’s him!” Zari waved the hand still holding her donut at the man. 

Everything Ava had heard about Behrad Tarazi really could not have prepared her for how… unlike his sister was. He reminded her the people who frequented the queer bookstore she had worked at one summer. They were definitely related, sure, but the only thing they seemed to actually share in common was a love of bright patterns. His unseasonal Hawaiian shirt and her girlfriend’s pink floral blouse could have been cousins. 

He broke out into a grin, pulling the chair out across from them. “Hey, Zari.”

“Hey,” she said. 

“Hi,” Ava said, feeling that nervousness wash over her again. “You must be Behrad.” In a move she instantly regretted, she stuck her hand out for him to shake. 

“And you must be Ava.” He took her hand with a little bit of hesitation, probably not expecting such formalities. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.” She hoped the entire meeting wouldn’t be this awkward, at least.

Zari seemed to sense it as well, setting her donut down and taking her hand. “So, how’s D.C. been treating you?”

“You know, it’s been fine,” Behrad said. “I went to hang with one of my old bros from high school-”

“Emphasis on _high_ , there,” she interrupted, turning to her with a roll of her eyes. The slight smile on her face, giving her away.

He chuckled. “What else would you expect?”

“Mm.” Ava squeezed her hand, relief washing over her as the barista appeared at the top of the stairs. 

As he gave them their drinks, she muttered a quiet, _thanks_ , before taking a sip of her latte. At least it gave her an excuse if she didn’t have anything to say. 

“Now that I’ve introduced you to my girlfriend, when do I meet your mechanic boo back in Central City?” Zari asked.

Behrad cleared his throat. “Uh, Jax’s a busy dude.”

“Maybe next day we’re both in DC you can bring him by and we can have a double date.” She turned to Ava. “Doesn’t that sound fun, babe?”

“Yeah, that could be fun,” she agreed, caught slightly off guard.

“So, when Zari was talking about you, she mentioned you had a podcast,” he said, turning to her. 

“Mm-hmm. Uh, yeah, I do StabCast,” Ava replied with a nod. “You know, mostly just true crime stuff.”

“Huh.” Behrad nodded at well. “I think I had a friend that recommended that to me once.”

“Oh.” She sat up. “So, have you ever… listened to it?”

“Nah. Podcasts aren’t really my thing,” he answered.

Ava was about to respond when the barista came back up again. “Chai latte?”

“That’s me.” Behrad grinned at him as he set his drink down. “Thanks, bro.”

The barista nodded before walking away. 

Zari drummed her fingers on the side of his mug before he was out of earshot. “You guys wanna hear about my dressy sneakers line?”

“Sure.” _Anything to make this conversation less awkward_ , she thought, taking a sip of her latte.

At least he didn’t seem like a dick. But she couldn’t tell if he was just chill all the time or if he actually liked her. God, meeting the family was always so fucking stressful.

\--

Things still felt a little weird when Zari’s phone started buzzing. 

She put down her mocha to check who it was before groaning. “Ugh, I gotta take this.” Letting go of Ava’s hand, she said, “You two keep talking.”

“Cool,” she said.

Zari pressed a kiss to her cheek as she stood up. Walking away, she heard her say, “Les-lay, this better be an emergency.”

They sat in relative silence for a while. It could have been ten seconds, or two minutes, hard to tell when neither of them could think of something to say.

It was easier to come up with conversation when Zari was around as a sort of middle ground, but Ava found herself at a loss now. Did she ask him about his boyfriend? His career as a mechanic? What it was like in Central City?

Or, the most fun part, embarrassing family stories?

Before she could, Behrad took a sip of his chai and said, “So. Ava.”

“Hm?” she asked, putting down her latte. “Wait.” She groaned. “If this is where you try to tell me you’ll kick my ass if I break your sister’s heart, I just want you to know that I could kiss your ass first.”

His eyes widened, before he set his mug down with a laugh. “No, I’m not that kind of guy. Plus, I bet she could find some other way to get her payback. And you don’t really seem like the heart breaker type.”

Well, that was good news at least. “So what?”

“First off, what is Zari telling you about me?” he asked.

Ava sighed. “She was worried you wouldn’t like me.”

“No, you’re-” He stopped. “Well, cool-ish. And you seem to make her happy… which is more that I can say for DJ Shithead.”

A part of her wanted to ask about that whole situation, but she decided it was better to wait when she wanted to tell her. “Cool-ish isn’t the vibe I was going for, but good enough.”

“You do run a podcast all about murder,” Behrad said. “That’s pretty cool.”

She grimaced. “Not everyone thinks that,” Ava told him.

“Yeah, guess that not everyone is a true crime person.” He took a sip of his latte. 

The familiar click of heels echoed as Zari climbed back up the stairs. “Sorry about that, just had to correct something.”

“It’s fine,” he said, smiling. 

“So, what I’d miss?” she asked as she sat back down.

Ava laced her fingers through hers. “Behrad was just about to share some embarrassing stories about when you were kids.”

“Oh, was I?” he joked. “Fine, I can try to dig up something mortifying.”

“Oh my God, do _not_ ,” Zari said, laughing. 

As she watched, she couldn’t hide her smile. _Success_.

\--

“Babe, come on, a new episode is about to start.”

“Hold on,” Zari muttered, stopping her pacing behind the couch. She handed her phone to Ava, who paused the episode of _GLOW_. “How does this caption look?”

She glanced it over. “Coffee date with my boo _._ Hashtag, zava. Hashtag, ultimate collab. Hashtag, love is love,” she read out.

“Love how you read the hashtag out loud. It’s so adorable.”

Smiling, she gave her back her phone. “Seems perfect to me.”

Zari grinned. “Kay, cool.” With that, her thumb hovered above the post button. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Ava said. “Let’s do this.”

She pressed the post button, before letting out a squeal. “God, that feels so good.”

Glancing over at her, she said, “Now we just have to wait and see.”

“And I’ll let you distract me with your gay wrestling show.” Zari came over, draping herself in her lap. 

Ava chuckled. “They’re not all gay,” she told her.

“Uh, Ruth and Debbie are also pretty gay, if you ask me,” she said. 

“Arthie and Yolanda are cute, though.” She grabbed the bowl of popcorn. 

“Yeah, nothing wrong with some eighties’ lesbians either way.” Zari fiddled with her phone. “Okay, I won’t check it until we’ve at least finished this episode.”

“Okay.” 

With some hesitation, she set her phone on mute and leaned forward to put it on the coffee table. 

“Do you think you can resist?” Ava asked.

“I’ll try my best,” she said earnestly. 

\--

The episode wasn’t too long, but by the time it was wrapping up she could tell Zari was getting antsy. The moment the credits started to roll she went to grab it. 

“Babe.”

“What? I wanna know what people are saying,” she told Ava.

As she opened Instagram, she moved off of her girlfriend’s lap. She didn’t really have any social media, something she knew Zari was planning on remedying the first chance she could. The sheer amount of notifications wasn’t that surprising, but it seemed impossible, almost.

She let out a shocked laugh, before once again shoving her phone into Ava’s hands. “Look!”

Taking her phone, she looked at the praise in the comments. “Wow. They… really love us.”

Zari took her phone back and, with some self restraint, set it back down again. “Hey.”

“Hm?” 

She picked up her hand and squeezed it between hers. “I don’t want things to change between us because we’re-” Pausing, she said, “You know I’m not with you for the numbers, or the fans, or anything like that, right?”

“Yeah,” Ava replied with a smile. “It’s never been like that with us.”

“I just wanted to make sure you knew.” Zari paused, worrying her lip between her teeth. “And that I knew.”

A thought that had crossed her mind before hit her in the face. _Just tell her, damnit_. But the timing had never been right, and she just-

“I knew,” she said. “And I also know that… I love you.”

For a moment, the shocked look on Zari’s face made her worry if it had been too soon. But then she let go of her hand and cupped her face, before kissing her quickly. It was only a brief kiss, but there was a smile on her face when she pulled away.

“What was that for?” Ava asked.

“I love you too,” she said, before chuckling. “I’m sorry, I’m not good at just being upfront like that.”

“Luckily for you, I’m apparently too good at being upfront,” she joked, trying to make her feel better. “For a Sharpe, I’m surprisingly blunt.”

Zari snorted at that. “God, you’re a nerd.”

“But I’m your nerd.”

“Obvi.” She leaned in again, with her phone’s stream of notifications ignored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so! what's next! cuz this isn't the end!! after all,,,,, zari's dressy sneakers have not made their debut yet,,, wink wink


	8. chapter eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ava comes to New York for a New Year's visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the question i had going into this chapter was, how many wlw can i fit in one scene? and the answer is... well, you'll see.  
> i definitely wasn't planning to have this chapter be that long but here i am, it's longer than any other chapter i think idisfawr but it's worth it  
> anyways, enjoy :)

The first half of December seemed to pass without much fanfare. Ava spent most of her time planning a holiday murders special with both Nora and Mona coming on as guests, something that was sure to be fun. 

They had just finished up their recording session when she noticed a missed call from Zari. With them both busy, there hadn’t been time for them to talk much.

“Ooh,” Mona said, seeming to sense an opportunity to get into her friend’s love life. “You need some privacy?”

Ava looked over at her, still sitting over at the desk with Nora. “How did you know it was her?”

“You just had that look,” she replied with a grin.

“What does that- okay, I’m going to call her back.”

She ignored Nora’s laughter as she stepped out of her studio, into the hallway. With a smile, she called her back and hoped that she wasn’t busy.

“Hey, babe,” Zari said after a few moments of waiting. “What’s up?”

“We just finished wrapping an episode,” Ava told her. “Why’d you call?”

“Are you doing anything for New Year’s?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so.” She had planned to spend Christmas with the Heywoods again, or at least Christmas Eve. But for New Years’ Eve, her plan had been to watch the ball drop and then go to bed immediately afterwards. 

“I finally have a few days with no shoots, no meetings, and just one little party around then, if you wanna come up for a visit?” Zari asked. 

“Sure, yeah,” Ava said after a moment of consideration.

“Cool, can you fly up on…” She trailed off, clicking her tongue before asking, “The 29th?”

“I should be. I’ll check back and see if I can actually _get_ a flight, but it shouldn’t be too bad.” 

“Yay!” There was some noise in the background before Zari sighed. “Ugh. My work is never finished.”

“Talk to you later.”

“Love you.” With that, she hung up, leaving Ava alone in the hallway. 

“Love you too,” she muttered.

As happy as she was to see her girlfriend again, Ava found herself wishing it could just be the two of them enjoying their time together. Parties weren’t really her scene, at least not the kind of parties Zari seemed to frequent. 

All she could hope was that it wouldn’t be too disastrous. 

\--

“We should probably get lunch, shouldn’t we?”

Ava didn’t respond, apart from pulling Zari closer under the covers. She’d arrived in New York City early that morning, tired to the bone. And although they’d spent some time making up for not seeing each other that month, she was still recovering from their mid-morning nap.

“Or… we can just stay here all day,” her girlfriend added. 

“There’s nothing we have to do today, right?” she mumbled. With that, she pressed a kiss against her forehead.

Zari pulled away, raising her eyes to meet hers. “You’ve got a point there.” She leaned in to give her a quick peck on the lips, before moving her arm. “But I only had one of my green juices for breakfast, so I’m just a little hungry.”

“Fine.” Ava sat up, stretching her arms above her head. She probably could have stayed in bed forever - it wasn’t as comfortable as her own Casper mattress (promo code, laceration), but it was warmer than the rest of the apartment. 

She watched her climb out of bed, heading to her closet. “I’ll try to be quick,” she said, dipping into the bathroom.

Getting out of bed herself, she couldn’t help but smile to herself. She knew Zari well enough to know that quick for her wasn’t really that quick. 

Ava got redressed, snagging a stray hair tie off of her dresser to tie her hair up in a ponytail. She slipped her silver bracelet back on from where she’d left it, glancing back at the bathroom door as she left the bedroom.

When she took her place on the couch, Mithra leaped off his cat tree and ambled his way over to her. 

“Hey, Mithra,” she said, leaning down to scratch his head.

He rubbed his cheek against her jeans, meowing softly. In a smooth leap, he joined her on the couch and climbed into her lap.

She smiled as she pet him, listening to him purr. He was warm, if not a little heavy. “Did you miss me, huh?”

Mithra’s response was just to purr louder. It wasn’t the worst way to be trapped, Ava figured.

Finally, Zari joined them in the living room, looking just as meticulous as she had that morning. The hickey she’d left had been covered up by a careful application of concealer near the neckline of her sweater. When she spotted them, she placed a hand on her chest and gasped. “Mithra!” 

“Sorry, babe,” she told her, petting his back. “You’ve been replaced.”

“I’ve been betrayed,” she corrected. Sitting beside her, she leaned over to scratch the top of his head. 

“Better than getting my eye clawed out,” Ava said.

“Yeah, that’d really be a bummer,” Zari replied. “Though you would look pretty hot with a scar.” She traced a finger over one of her eyes with a smile.

“I could rock a scar,” she agreed. 

“Just not inflicted by this little furball here.” She scooped Mithra up, holding him against her chest as she stood up. “Okay, bud, you’re staying here.” He didn’t put up too much of a fight, letting her place him in his cat tree.

Ava stood up, brushing cat hair off herself. “So, where are we going?”

“My special spot,” Zari said. She took her hand and squeezed it, holding it against her chest. “Let’s go.”

\--

The diner was almost just as she remembered it. Last time, though, festive lights weren’t adorning the windows. 

They had squeezed into the same side of a booth, hidden away in the corner of the restaurant. The place wasn’t too crowded anyways, but here it felt like they had their own little place.

Zari dipped one of her fries in her milkshake. “So, do you finally agree that strawberry is the superior flavor?”

“Nope,” Ava said, sipping her strawberry milkshake. “I still think vanilla’s the best.”

“The best for dipping fries, maybe,” she said, sticking the fry in her mouth. Wiping her fingers with a napkin, she turned to her. “I should probably warn you about the party.”

“What about the party?” Ava asked, snapping to attention.

Clearing her throat, she said, “It’s being thrown by my ex.” 

She was happy she’d put her milkshake down, otherwise she would have choked on it. “Which ex?”

“Not… one of _those_ exes.” Zari took her hand. “I think you’ll like her.”

Ava blinked. “Oh.” An ounce of jealousy flowed through her, though she tried her best to ignore it. She forced a smile. “Cool.”

“That wasn’t convincing at all, you know that right?”

“No, it’s… it’s cool,” she said, nodding. “Totally.”

“Babe,” she said to Ava with a laugh. “This is why I wanted to tell you now. I mean, she’s engaged and everything. It was like…” She paused. “I think, six years ago? Seven years?”

That relieved her fears just a little. “So it’s a party thrown by her and her fiancee?”

“Yep.” With a smile, Zari squeezed her hand. “Super chill, a little exclusive but of course, I got an invite _and_ scored that plus-one so I could bring my boo.”

“Chill and exclusive usually don’t go hand-in-hand,” Ava replied. 

“It’s mostly chill,” she said. “Ken’s not uptight like that. She just likes her privacy.”

“Hm.” She placed her other hand over hers. “You’re starting to actually make me excited for this thing,” she joked.

Zari beamed “Good thing it’s not that far away.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Good thing.”

She slipped her hand out of Ava’s and leaned over to steal a sip of her milkshake. “Mm, strawberry is still the best.”

“Mm, no, it isn’t,” she told her. 

Laughing, she turned back to her. “Maybe we just need to try more milkshakes.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

\--

When it was finally New Years’ Eve, Ava was slightly less excited than she was two days before. 

It was about 8 PM when they actually made their way to the party. Zari clung to her arm as they walked down the hall to her apartment. 

“This is gonna be fun,” she told her. 

“Yeah, hanging out with your ex’s drunk friends is gonna be a blast,” Ava muttered.

Zari stopped. “Don’t be a buzzkill, boo.” She tapped her nose, before ringing the doorbell.

Beside her, she smoothed out her dress and adjusted her coat. Her nerves were starting to get the better of her. This was really the first thing she had tagged along with her to, even if it was just a party. 

The door opened to reveal a blonde, freckled woman. Her red jumpsuit revealed her muscular arms as she took a sip of what she assumed was champagne. “Hey, Z, long time no see.”

“Hey, Sara,” Zari said, grinning. 

“Nice that you could make it. You guys are, like, the first ones here.” She opened the door wider. “Come on in.”

The two followed her inside. The loft was spacious, but warm and homely. Soft guitar music played from a few unseen speakers, adding to the space’s comfortable atmosphere. 

As they took off their coats and hung them up, Sara called out, “Yo, Kendra! We’ve got guests!”

Another woman stepped out of the kitchen. Her brown hair spilled around her shoulders, a few blonde streaks framing her face. In her black crop top and long skirt, it was hard for Ava to look away from her. 

It took her a moment to recognize her, but she knew right away that she looked familiar. Then she remembered Mona’s attempt to get her to branch out from the Indigo Girls and Dolly Parton. One of the albums she’d shown her had been by The Hawks, a duo that had broken up when one of them decided to go their own way. And that half had been a certain Kendra Saunders who was standing right in front of her.

“Zari! You made it!” she said.

“Of course I did,” Zari said, pulling her into a hug. 

As she pulled away, Kendra seemed to just notice Ava. “Hey.”

She wrapped her hand around her arm, clinging to her. “This is Ava, my girlfriend.”

“I’ve heard,” she said, turning to her. “Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Ava said, holding a hand out for a handshake.

She took her hand, giving it a firm shake. “I’m Kendra, and this is my fiancee, Sara.”

Sara threw up a peace sign from where she’d made herself comfortable on the couch. 

“Well, just make yourselves comfortable. You two are… earlier than expected,” Kendra said.

“Thanks,” Ava said.

She and Zari took the loveseat across from Sara. On the table in between them were a few clean glasses besides a waiting ice bucket. Her girlfriend wrapped an arm around her waist, snuggling into her side.

“So, Ava,” Sara said. “What do you do?”

“Uh, I have a true-crime podcast,” she answered, nodding. 

“Yeah, StabCast,” Zari added. “She talks about murder and stuff, right, babe?”

“Yup. That’s… exactly what I do.” Ava messed with the bracelet on her wrist as she gave her a smile. “What about you?”

“Oh, I do stunts,” Sara told them. “You know, standing in for actors so they don’t break their necks in fight scenes and stuff.”

“That’s so cool,” Zari said. “Dangerous, but… cool.” 

Kendra came back in with a bottle. “Anyone want apple cider?” she asked. “It’s non-alcoholic. I figured we should keep the drinking until it’s closer to midnight.”

“And not everyone drinks,” she added.

“That too,” Sara said. “I should probably be sticking to cider tonight as well.”

She filled three of the glasses and set the bottle in the ice bucket. Kendra handed two of the glasses to Zari and Ava before taking a glass to herself. “For a better year than this one.”

The four of them raised their glasses in a toast. “I’ve had a good year, so it can only get better from here,” Sara added, clinking her glass with her fiancee’s.

“Ditto.” Zari held out her glass to Ava.

She clinked her glass against hers and took a sip.

Maybe this party wouldn’t be as terrible as she feared.

\--

As it got closer to midnight, the party had gotten a little louder, but it wasn’t full on rager. Around ten, they’d finally broken out the booze just in time for Sara’s friend Charlie and their girlfriend Astra. Another friend of Kendra’s from Central City, Iris, had made her appearance shortly before they had with _her_ girlfriend, Lisa. 

Ava was starting to think there were going to be no straight people at this party. And, to her honest surprise, her assumption was correct. 

“We’re all gay here,” Charlie had said, cracking open a beer.

“Amen to that,” Lisa replied. 

The eight of them were barely paying attention to the countdown on the TV now, with only ten minutes until the ball dropped. Ava had fallen into a conversation with Iris as she finished up her second beer of the night. No one was really that drunk, which she supposed was due to them waiting to actually start drinking. 

“Yeah, that piece that _The Citizen_ did talking about that new evidence in the Meyers case was super helpful,” she was telling her. 

“Thanks. I have a few friends at CCPD who helped me get the scoop,” Iris replied. “You know, I’ve never actually listened to StabCast, but maybe I’ll give that redux episode a listen.”

“Sure, I’ll text you a link.” Ava took her phone out of her purse and handed it to her to put her number in. “It was actually fun to go back and point out what holes in his profile could be fixed by finding out it was actually his mother.”

“Yeah, it was a classic plot twist. Except in real life.” She handed her phone back. 

Zari looked over from where she was playing cards with Astra. “Hey, babe?” she called out. 

“What?” Ava asked, looking up the episode so she could send the right link. 

“Why is your end line, ‘Stay stabby,’ and not, like, ‘Stay _Sharpe_ ’?” she asked. 

“I mean, it’s a more fitting pun,” Astra added. The question of how they’d gotten to that topic of conversation wasn’t as pressing as her own moment of realization.

She paused. “I’ve been running this podcast for five years and I never thought of that,” she said. 

“I guess it’s too late to change your brand, huh?” Iris asked. 

“Given that my fans have labelled themselves _stabbies_ , it’s a little too late,” Ava told her. She copied the link and sent it to her, before putting her phone back down. 

The music overhead stopped and Kendra cleared her throat to make herself heard above the rest of the party. “Guys, it’s almost time for the ball to drop.”

Lisa appeared from where she had been chatting with Charlie, dropping into Iris’ lap. “Only a few more minutes.”

As she joined her on the couch again, Zari grabbed her purse. “Let me fix my lipstick then.”

Ava watched her fix her lipstick. “I guess I better make this kiss special to start the year off right.”

“Every kiss you give me is special.”

“And you call _me_ cheesy,” she told her. 

As it got closer to midnight, they watched the ball make its descent. 

“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!” Sara and Charlie led the chant.

“Five!” Zari turned to her with a smile.

“Four!” Ava took her eyes off the screen to meet hers.

“Three!” She scooted just a little bit closer to her, placing a hand on her thigh.

“Two!” Midnight seemed too far away when all she wanted to do was kiss her now.

“One!” Ava leaned in closer.

“Happy New Years’!”

Zari kissed her, one hand cupping her cheek. She leaned into the kiss, letting herself forget everything around them.

Until she heard Astra say, “Get a room, God.”

Ava pulled away, laughing a little. 

“Someone’s having a good year already,” Lisa said, still sitting in her girlfriend’s lap.

“Lucky me,” Zari said, wiping the lipstick that had come off onto her lips. 

\--

They had ended up hanging around at Kendra’s way past midnight. It was nearly 2 AM when they finally left.

“See you at the shoe launch!” Zari called as they left. She was carrying her heels, apparently tired of them after all night. Ava, on the other hand, was happy she’d worn flats. 

The elevator ride down the lobby was mostly quiet, as she put her heels back on.

“See, I told you it would be fun,” Zari said, leaning on her for support.

“Yeah, I had a good time. We even made some friends,” Ava replied. She handed her her other heel. “Is this why you thought of dressy sneakers?”

She shrugged. “I love my heels, but they can be a real pain.” Slipping the other shoe on, she said, “Literally.”

The doors opened, and they made their way out to the lobby. The Uber still was a few minutes away, but it was too chilly on the street.

Zari sat down on one of the cushioned benches, closing her eyes. “How far is it?”

“Two minutes.”

“I’m gonna crash as soon as we get back to my place. I’m too tired to even do my bedtime routine,” she complained. 

Ava joined her. “You were the one who wanted to stay so long.”

“Mm, yeah.” She leaned against her shoulder, sneaking her pinky under the bracelet on her wrist. “You’ve been wearing it all trip. I thought you weren't a big jewelry person.”

“Yeah, not really,” she said, “But you were the one who gave it to me.”

As she hummed, Zari pulled her finger away. “I was going to ask you in the morning, but-”

Her phone buzzed, cutting her off. “The Uber’s here,” Ava said. 

She laughed. “I’ll tell you when we get home, then.”

They made their way out to the street, looking for their car. 

“Ava?” the driver asked as she rolled the window down.

“That’s me,” she said, opening the door to the backseat for them to climb in.

Although they weren’t too far from her place, traffic made the short trip way longer than it should be. Ava leaned her head back against the headrest, hoping that they would get back sometime.

“You know that shoe event I’ve been planning, for like, forever?” Zari asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, how could I forget?” she asked, turning to look at her. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to be my official date,” she asked her.

Ava sat up. “Your date?”

“Uh-huh.” Zari smiled. “I mean, if you’re not busy. It’s not until the end of February, but I’d need to book fittings, get your flights organized, have Les-lay work out an itinerary-”

“Woah.” She took her hand. “I’ll do it. But it is… 2 AM. And too late for even me to try to work out the logistics of all that.”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“But… the answer’s yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise lovebirds will show up again, ik i said this chapter was gonna be the dressy sneakers chapter but i could not jump into that! it is my grand finale! u shall see!  
> also. ik. not enough mona or nora. a true travesty. we haven't gotten enough of them since chapter five. don't worry i'll make it work.  
> stay sharpe y'all


	9. chapter nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zari gets ready for the Dress-Z sneaker launch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no, the finale didn't kill me (but it nearly did :P) current events just killed any writing vibe i had the past few weeks  
> i wrote the first half of this chapter, got stuck, but now looky here i actually finished it yay

It was a week out from the Dress-Z Sneakers launch. Or, specifically, a week out from when Ava made her trip to New York City for the launch, a good few days before the actual launch. 

Life in D.C., though, was still preceding as.. mostly normal. Like tonight, as she hung out at Mona and Nora’s apartment. 

“So, are you excited for your trip to New York?” Mona asked, sitting down beside her girlfriend.

Ava shrugged. “As excited as I can be, I guess.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Afraid of offending some random celebrity and causing a scandal?” Nora added.

She shook. “No… well, not until you brought it up.” Taking a sip of her wine, she said, “It is a little intimidating, though.”

It was more than a little intimidating, actually. 

The whole world already knew that the two of them were a thing, but this was their first outing that wasn’t just going out to coffee or a friend's party. There wasn’t just the off chance of paparazzi or some fan running them. The event was going to be full of reporters and celebrities. To say that was intimidating was an understatement.

“Well, good news is all you have to do is be her arm candy,” Nora said.

Mona elbowed her. 

“Hey!”

“You’re going to do fine,” she said, ignoring her. “I mean, chatting it up with the elite, gaining some famous listeners?”

“Yeah, promo at my girlfriend’s shoe launch. I’m sure she’d love that,” Ava replied. 

“Uh, didn’t you casually recommend it to someone at that party you went to with her?” Nora asked. 

“Uh-uh, I didn’t recommend it, I told her that she helped me with research for it and she said that she’d give it a listen,” she corrected.

“Besides, aren’t you used to dressing up and trying to impress people? At least these celebs won’t be as stuffy.”

“I just hope they aren’t.” She had a point, though. Fancy parties and benefits weren’t too out of her league. Part of government work, somehow, she supposed. There were also the years she’d been invited to the Heywood’s hemophilia galas, though she’d gotten out of it this year.

But this was different. It was an event, capital E. She’d even had to go up to New York to get fitted for a suit to wear instead of just picking out a nice dress from her own meager collection. 

“Just be yourself,” Mona said. “You don’t have to try to suck up if you don’t want to.”

Ava smiled. It was times like these that she was fortunate for her friends. “Thanks, Mona.”

Nora cleared her throat. “Not that this isn’t riveting conversation, but are we going to talk about the book this week for once?” she asked.

“Is it bad if I say I didn’t actually get around to reading it?” Mona replied, looking sheepish.

“Mona!” the two of them chorused, giving her shocked looks.

“Don’t look at me like that, I know you two check Sparknotes!”

\--

Ava rang the doorbell to Zari’s apartment with a sigh. Her flight was supposed to leave this afternoon, but of course it had gotten delayed. Then, she’d sat in front of a kid who wouldn’t stop kicking the back of her seat on the trip. 

Well, at least she was here now. A stressful start to a probably stressful week seemed about right. 

The door opened, revealing Zari in her pajamas. She lit up when she realized it was her, pulling her into a hug. “Oh, I missed you,” she mumbled.

She patted her back. “Missed you too.” Ava let her go with a smile. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Yeah, I got your text.” She opened the door enough for her to come in. “Come on, you must be tired.”

As she walked in, she let out a laugh. “Definitely. I think I nearly fell asleep in the cab ride her,” she told her. “I know I just got here, but is it okay if I pop in the bathroom and change for bed?” 

“What, am I making you feel overdressed for once?” Zari joked, locking the door. 

“Just a little.” Ava kissed her cheek. “But you’re still cute.”

“Obviously,” she said, sitting down on the couch. 

She headed into the master suite and put her bag down, before putting on her pajamas. It felt nice to change out of her jeans after wearing them all day. She’d almost regretted bringing a simple matching pajama set instead of something a little more fun. But as she buttoned up her top, she couldn’t be more grateful.

When she came back out to the living room, Ava was welcomed with a snore. Zari must have been more tired than she was, already knocked out. A blanket was thrown on top of her lap.

She couldn’t resist her smile as she sat down beside her, covering the two of them with the blanket. Wrapping an arm around her, she gently pulled her closer against her chest.

“Mm.” She blinked as she woke up, turning to look at her. “Was I asleep?”

“You were,” Ava said. 

“Yeah, I fell asleep out here waiting for you too,” Zari admitted, the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. “Shit’s been busy, and I’ve-” She yawned. “I’ve been working overtime.”

“Then I think that’s a sign you should be getting to bed.”

The two of them got up, her arm still around her girlfriend as she groaned.

“But you just got here,” she whined.

Ava pushed the door open to the bedroom with her foot and led her inside. “But you need some sleep. Besides,” she said, “You get to cuddle with me.”

Climbing into bed, Zari mumbled, “Fine.”

As soon as she climbed in beside her, she made her way into her hold. 

“Someone’s clingy tonight, huh?” Ava teased.

“Is that a complaint?” she asked.

“No,” she told Zari. “Not at all.”

\--

There had been many things Ava had learned to get used to since dating Zari. She’d gotten used to using social media, actually having to _make_ an Instagram, and her girlfriend taking over her bathroom when she visited.

Something that she was still getting used to was how early she woke up.

It wasn’t like Ava was one for sleeping in, exactly. Even being her own boss, she still woke up pretty early. However, Zari managed to wake up earlier.

And, somehow, drag her out of bed in the process.

That morning was no exception. She was yawning at her breakfast bar as she watched Zari attempt to make breakfast, waiting for Les-lay to swing by with coffee. 

“Have you been practicing to impress me?” Ava asked as the omelette in the pan nearly made a treacherous tumble.

“Apparently, I haven’t been practicing enough,” she replied with a smile. She was already dolled up for the day, her freshly-dyed hair in loose curls. 

“Well, I’m not too picky,” she told Zari. “As long as it’s edible.”

She laughed, holding up the spatula. “I can cook anything else!”

Ava grinned, leaning her elbows on the breakfast bar. “Worst case scenario, you can send Les-lay out for bagels or something.”

“That’s not her job,” Zari said. She slid the omelette onto a plate before handing it to her. “Bon appetit.”

“Thanks, babe.” She took a tedious bite. “Mm.”

“Good? Bad? You’re not spitting it out.”

“So you _have_ been practicing,” Ava answered.

A smug grin spread across Zari’s face. “Yes, I have.” As she went back to start her own omelette, the door started to open. 

“Good morning!” Les-lay said as she made her way inside, holding a coffee tray and a white bag in one hand with her iPad tucked under her arm. 

As she took another bite, she gave her an awkward wave. During her last visit to New York, the two hadn’t talked when she had swung by for a moment. 

“Okay, so I have your usual,” she told Zari, handing her one of the cups. “Then a vanilla latte for you, right?” she asked Ava.

“Yeah,” she said, taking the cup Les-lay offered her. 

“Oh, and I picked up your prescription.”

“Thanks,” Zari said. She cracked an egg into the bowl as she asked, “So, what’s on my schedule today?”

Ava barely paid attention as Les-lay told her girlfriend about the final few touches she would have to attend to for the day. It didn’t seem like there was much for her to actually do, which was… weird. She supposed she’d be spending most of the day loitering in her apartment instead.

She thought back to Nora’s comment about her being her arm candy for the launch. The only thing she really had to do was a final fitting for the suit to make sure it was up to par, along with her last fitting for her dress. 

Her poker face must have been betrayed her, because Zari glanced at her with raised eyebrows. “Mm, when can I squeeze in that pick-up?” 

“Uh, somewhere after 1pm,” Les-lay answered. 

“Then my schedule’s clear until for the rest of the day?”

She checked her iPad. “Don’t forget that appointment with Geri for your manicure at 4pm.”

“Fuck, I forgot about Geri.” Zari looked down at the pan. “And there goes my omelette.” As she took her slightly overcooked breakfast out of the pan, she looked back at Ava. “You know, we never got around to that milkshake tasting.”

“Because it was way too cold for ice cream, babe,” she told her. 

“Les-lay, add _milkshake tasting with the bae_ to my calendar at 1:30.” She joined Ava at the counter. “And try to see if I can move my manicure to tomorrow morning or something. Geri still owes me a favor for recommending them to Astra Logue.”

“On it,” she said, before stepping away to let them enjoy their breakfast in peace.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” she said as Zari dug into her omelette. 

“Who said that wasn’t for me? Maybe I just wanted a break.” The soft smile on her face, though, gave her away. 

“I hope that break includes a power nap,” Ava replied. “We can’t have you passing out in front of paparazzi.”

“I know, right? Imagine the scandal,” she joked, before taking a bite of her omelette. She grimaced. “Yeah, this is definitely burnt.”

“Good thing we’re having milkshakes for lunch.”

\--

“Come on, let me see how you look.”

Ava laughed, closing up her jacket. “Wow, impatient much?” she asked.

“Can you blame me?” Zari asked from outside of the dressing room. It’s been months and I want to see my girlfriend looking hot in a suit.”

She took one last glimpse in the mirror. The charcoal suit fit quite nicely, made with material that was way above her pay grade when she had been back at the DoD. The lapels of the jacket were embroidered with pink and purple flowers, the thread barely dark enough to stand out from its canvas. It was a handsome outfit.

With a smile, she pulled the curtain away. “What do you think?”

Zari smiled. “I take back everything I’ve said about your suits.” She stood up, coming over to run her thumbs over the embroidery. “Maybe you should just have Navid be your pantsuit guy.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I can afford Navid for my fix,” Ava said. 

“Hm.” She looked up at her. “At least you have one of his masterpieces.”

“Yes, I know, my handiwork is breathtaking,” Navid said, appearing out of nowhere. As she stepped away, he took a closer look. “I might need to take in the waist of the jacket a little, give her a sharper look.”

She nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”

He waved her away. “And while I pin it, you need to go try on your dress,” he told Zari. “Go, you can admire your girlfriend later.” He turned to Ava. “Come on.”

“Okay,” she said, following him to his worktable. She held her arms up so he could start.

“So…” he started. “How did you two meet?”

“Uh… a conference. For queer content creators,” Ava answered. It was a question she received rarely. Everyone who she had told other than Mona and Nora seemed more hyped that she was dating Zari in the first place to care how they met. “She asked for my advice with Z-Hour.”

“Oh.” Navid sounded surprised. “That explains it, you’re not her usual type.” He looked up at her at that statement with a smile. “Take that as a compliment. Her usual type is famous assholes with their own fashion teams.”

She nodded. “I’ve heard.”

He went to her other side. “At least you wouldn’t cheat on her with her assistant,” he muttered.

Ava bit her lip not to react. _Well_ , she thought, _that explained why they broke things off_. But she didn’t say anything aloud. 

“I should have this altered by tomorrow afternoon,” Navid said. “You really rock a suit.”

“Thanks.”

He looked towards the dressing room. “Z, it should not take you that long to get into a dress.”

Zari peered her head out the curtain. “Blame the zipper.”

Navid rolled his eyes, helping slip the pinned-up jacket off Ava’s shoulders. “I told you to cut back on the snacks-”

She groaned. “I can’t _reach it_ , Navid.”

“I can help,” she offered.

Her eyes widened. “No. It’s a surprise,” Zari said.

“The woman’s waited for God knows how long to see your dress, just let her have a peek. It’s not like you’re getting married or something,” he said. “Unless I’ve just ruined a big surprise for your launch.”

“Please, that’s not my style. Just- come in.”

Ava smiled and walked over, pushing the curtain open. Zari glanced back, one arm holding up the front of her strapless dress, the zipper half open. 

“Can you-”

“Yeah, hold on.” The dressing room didn’t have much space, but she got behind her to help her close it all the way. 

“Thanks, babe,” Zari said. She turned around to look up at her, pressing her lips together. “We’re going to look so hot together."

“Obviously.” Ava pushed the curtain open. “After you.”

Once she stepped out of the dressing room, she could get a better look at her dress. The bodice was pale pink, but the form-fitting skirt was the same charcoal grey as her suit. Silver embroidery decorated the neckline in the same floral designs as her lapel. The skirt went down to mid-calf before stopping to show off the Dress-Z sneakers she would be debuting. 

“So… how do I look?”

Ava swallowed. “Uh…” It would be an understatement to say she looked good, or even to say she looked great. She was beautiful, the dress showing off her curves in all the best ways. If she could make herself speak, she would thank Navid’s mastery.

“You’ve left her speechless,” he said.

Zari laughed, messing with a strand of her hair. “Nice to know I’ve stunned you.”

“Well, you are stunning,” Ava finally said. 

Navid glanced at her. “Okay, change out of that suit before you faint and wrinkle it,” he joked. “You said you were in a hurry, remember?”

"We do have a milkshake date," Zari said.

She held her hands up and went back into the dressing room. “Fine, fine.”

As Ava unbuttoned her dress shirt, she couldn’t stop from grinning. It was already a chaotic weekend, sure, but it was already turning out to be a fun one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter guys!!! the event!!! hell yeah!!!!


	10. chapter ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the Dress-Z launch has finally arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah! oh my god! last chapter!  
> once again, a giant giant thanks to freckles for encouraging me to write this and constantly being there when i have my zava days. and of course, a huge thanks to all the readers who've stuck by me, u all are the real ones, mwa mwa mwa (those are kisses not evil laughter i promise)  
> i hope u all enjoy this final chapter of my zava epic,,, my masterpiece

“Zari, go-time is in thirty minutes.”

“Thanks, Les-Lay.” 

Ava sent the text she was typing to Mona, before putting her phone in her lap. Zari sat down at the vanity in the background, closing her eyes. 

“You okay?” she asked her.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied, raising up a hand. “I just need to get in the zone.”

She came up behind Zari, leaving her phone on the couch on the couch. “You’re gonna do great,” Ava said, placing her hands on her shoulder.

“Mm.” She reached up to lay a hand over hers. “Thanks, babe. I just need this to turn out better than my Dragonesque event last year.” 

“You’ve got a better date this year, at least.”

Zari opened her eyes, looking up at her in the mirror. “Lucky me.”

She coaxed her up to join her on the couch. Usually, Ava would pull her close and run her hands through her hair to help soothe her nerves. But if she ruined her updo, she was sure that would just make things worse. 

“I’m starting to regret just having a juice for breakfast,” Zari muttered. 

“Good thing I grabbed a protein bar from that snack bar for the models,” she said, pulling one out of her pocket.

“Have I told you that I love you lately?” she asked Ava. 

With a grin, she handed it to her. “Yeah, but it’s always nice to hear it.”

Zari started to unwrap it before pausing. “Let’s split it.”

“I’m not that hungry-” Ava started to argue.

“Nope.” She gave her half of her protein bar. “No passing out in front of the paparazzi.”

She sighed. “That’d be a great way to get our first public appearance over with quickly. Pull the ol’ fainting act on them.”

“I think if Navid hears that you fainted in his suit, he’ll never make me another dress,” Zari said, not even trying to hide her laughter. “Unless you manage not to wrinkle it, that is.”

Ava took a bite, still smiling. Even if all the cameras and people made her miss the days of bureaucracy, she would plaster on a smile for the paparazzi for the moments like this. It was easy to forget her own nervousness when it was just the two of them, joking around while sharing a protein bar. 

“Hey.”

“What?” she asked Zari, shaking herself out of her thoughts.

“Thank you for agreeing to this,” she told her. “I know you’re better behind a microphone than on a red carpet, but I think this would be like, half as bearable without you.”

She slid her free hand on top of hers. “Of course. I mean, this is very much not my scene-” Ava squeezed her hand “-but I knew what I signed up for.”

Zari ducked her head, letting out a small chuckle. “Most of the people I date do it for the prestige of dating a celebrity, but you just act like it’s part of the deal."

“I mean, the only way I knew who you were when we met was through Mona,” she admitted. “If you couldn’t tell by her fangirling.”

“Why does that not surprise me in the least?”

Ava laughed. “I’m just not a big social media person!”

That made Zari give her a soft smile, as she raised her hand to caress her cheek. Her long nails had made a special reappearance for the event, the silver acrylics barely brushing against her skin. “I know, but your incompetence with social media is  _ adorable _ , babe.”

“Well, at least I have an Instagram now,” she replied. 

“And who’s fault is that?”

She was about to answer when the door opened. Ava turned to see Les-lay, peering in with a wide-eyed look. “Uh, just a reminder that we have twenty minutes to go.”

“Thanks,” the two of them said.

As soon as the door closed again, they dissolved into giggles. 

“Oh my God, did you see her face?” Zari whispered, still laughing.

“Your cheek caresses were too much,” she replied. 

She doubled over with a snort, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth to muffle her chortling. “God, you’re going to make me mess up my makeup.” With a sigh, she sat back up. Her lipstick was barely smudged as she gave her a soft smile. “Guess I am pretty lucky, huh?”

“I’d say we’re both lucky, babe,” Ava told her.

Zari’s smile grew wider. “Yes, we are.”

\--

“Oh, there they are.” Zari slipped her hand in the crook of Ava’s elbow before steering her towards Kendra and Sara. “Let’s go talk to them.”

“Finally, someone here I know,” she said.

The fashion show had gone off with no big catastrophes, which was a success in her book. Of course, that was only half the night. The other half was the after party, something that she hadn’t been looking forward to. 

Kendra and Sara were both well dressed for the event. Sara had on yet another jumpsuit, while Kendra’s dark green dress sparkled even in the low lighting. If she hadn’t been there with a gorgeous woman of her own, Ava might have swooned. 

They both looked up from their conversation when Zari said, “Hey, ladies.”

“There’s the star of the night!” Sara said, grinning. 

She beamed at that as she and Ava sat on the couch near theirs. “Oh, I don’t know if I’d call myself the  _ star _ of the night. Just the mastermind behind it all.”

Kendra chuckled. “Still the master of modesty, huh?”

“You know it,” Zari told her. “How are you guys doing?”

“We’re doing fine,” Sara replied. 

“Yeah, we just snuck away from the crowd,” her fiancee added. “It’s nice to see you two.”

Ava nodded. “It’s nice to see you too. You’re the first person I’ve talked to tonight that I actually knew.”

Wrapping a hand around her arm, Zari asked, “What about me?”

“Well, you’re my date, babe,” she replied. “Obviously, I already knew you.”

Sara cupped her hands over her mouth. “Get a room!”

“It’s my party, if my girlfriend and I want to be cute, who’s to stop us?” Zari said

She stuck her tongue out at her as she threw her legs over Kendra’s lap. “If we’re being all PDA-y tonight, then fine.”

Ava and Kendra looked at each other, and she could tell she was thinking the same thing she was:  _ I can’t believe I’m dating this dork.  _ After a moment, they both cracked up.

“What?” Sara asked.

“Nothing,” Kendra said. “You’re just adorable.”

Zari glanced over at her, giving her arm a squeeze as their companions went back to trying to out-couple them. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to climb all over you where there could be paparazzi.”

“I thought you wouldn’t because it would wrinkle my suit,” Ava replied. 

“Well, and that.” She smiled, before leaning her cheek against her shoulder. “But I might get some makeup on it.”

“Mm, yeah, you’ll be the one to face Navid’s wrath for that,” she said, kissing the top of her head. 

“Gayyyy,” Sara said, still all over Kendra.

Pulling herself away from Ava, Zari stuck her tongue out at Sara.

“Pot calling the kettle black,” she added. 

Kendra patted her fiancee’s shoulder. “Okay, okay, we’re all gay.”

“You can say that again,” Ava replied. 

She sighed. “It’s nice to not have to worry, though. About being spotted-” she turned to Sara, “-or judged, for being all cutesy with the woman I love.”

“I mean, people will always judge,” Zari said. “But what do they know? Whatever they have to say doesn’t really matter.”

Ava wrapped her arm around, pulling her close. “I’d toast to that if I had something to drink.”

“Same,” her girlfriend said. “I’ll snag us some of that non-alcoholic champagne.”

She laughed as Zari stood up, chasing down one of the servers. 

“I’m glad you could make it,” Kendra said once she was out of earshot. Ava turned away from where she’d been watching her. 

“Yeah, it’s nice to be here. Even if it’s not my speed,” she said. “I’m happy to see you guys here, I don’t know who any of these people are, actually.”

“Wow, she was not exaggerating when she said you were a little out of touch,” Sara said. Her fiancee elbowed her lightly, but her amused expression was hard to hide.

“I’d be offended, but she’s not wrong,” Ava replied.

Zari came back with a server in tow, carrying a tray with four flutes. She passed them around to the group and took one for herself, before sending the server off with a word of thanks. 

“A toast to being able to be as cutesy, couple-y, and PDA-y as we like,” she said, taking her seat beside Ava and raising her flute. 

They clinked their glasses together, before taking a sip. 

Sara wrinkled her nose and said, “Still not as good as the real stuff.”

Ava glanced over at Zari with a grin. “Have I told you I love you lately?”

“Yeah, but it’s always nice to hear it,” she responded, leaning in for a kiss. 

\--

Zari flicked on the lights as they walked into her apartment, before stretching her arms above her head. “Ah, nothing like coming home after a fun night.”

“If you need me, I’m going to go pass out,” Ava said, heading to the couch. She undid her sneakers and flopped against the back of the couch.

With a chuckle, she joined her. “Same.”

A loud meow from Mithra caught their attention, as he came out of Zari’s room and hopped onto the couch. 

“Hi, honey,” she said, before the cat made himself comfortable in Ava’s lap instead. “Why does my cat like you more than me?”

“He doesn’t like me more,” she argued. “He just misses me when I’m gone.”

Zari pouted, something that was way more adorable than it should have been. “That doesn’t mean he’s also not stealing my opportunities to snuggle with you as well.” 

With a smile, Ava leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Sorry, babe.”

She whined, but she still scratched him behind the ears. Mid-scratch, she pulled away. “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.”

“What?” she asked. 

As she got up, Zari said, “Wait. Close your eyes, I have a present for you.”

Ava sighed, holding a hand over her eyes. “Should I be worried?”

“What are you worried about?”

“I don’t know. I thought you said surprises weren’t your style,” she replied.

“This isn’t a surprise, it’s just a gift.” She tapped her arm. “Okay. Open up.”

She moved her hand and looked to see what her girlfriend was holding. It was a charm, not too unlike the ones on her bracelet already. Unlike the others, it was a simple circle, engraved with the winged Z that Ava immediately recognized as the Z-Nation logo.

Taking the charm in her fingers, she flipped it over to read the back. The phrase  _ Stay stabby, Z-Nation _ was printed in a tiny font, so small it was barely readable. 

“You know, it’s been nearly a year since we met,” Zari said when she looked back up at her. “That conference in LA, remember?”

“Yeah, how could I forget? The most beautiful woman in the room came up to me and asked me for advice about podcasting,” she replied. 

She chuckled. “Most beautiful woman in the room?”

“Don’t pretend to be humble, you know you’re hot,” Ava joked. “I never imagined we’d turn out like this. I thought I’d just give you some advice and we’d both forget the other existed.”

Zari grinned. “Did I ever tell you that when I recognized you, my first thought was,  _ shit, she’s prettier in person _ ?”

“You did  _ not _ , did you really think I was that cute?” she asked.

“This is why I never told you, now I’m never gonna hear the end of it,” she complained, but her smile didn’t falter one bit. 

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I thought the same thing,” Ava reassured her. 

“Thanks.” Zari turned away for a second, laughing. “Do you want to know something else?”

“What?” she asked.

“I kinda came up with the whole Z-Hour idea on the fly,” she admitted, looking a little sheepish.

She balked. “You did?”

Zari opened her mouth to try to defend herself, before collapsing into giggles and bracing herself against her arm. “I wanted an excuse to talk to you and maybe… get your number? But then I  _ had  _ to start a podcast, and-”

“Oh my God.” Ava couldn’t help her own laughter. “You started Z-Hour because you’d wanted to talk to a cute girl.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, nodding. “But it worked! Cute girl, acquired.”

Still laughing, she handed the charm back to Zari so she could slip the bracelet off her wrist. “Well, I can’t argue with that.” She unfastened it and added the charm onto the chain. “Thanks for the charm, babe.”

“Anything for the prettiest podcaster I’ve ever met.”

She placed the bracelet on the end table. “So, now that you’re done with this launch and you’ve got a little extra time on your hands, do you think you’ll be down to visit ‘the prettiest podcaster you’ve ever met’ next weekend?”

“I’ll have Les-lay schedule my flight,” Zari whispered, cupping her cheek and leaning in for a kiss. 

If it weren’t for the cat still occupying her lap, she would have pulled her onto her lap. But as she kissed her, Ava couldn’t help but thinking,  _ Yeah, I’m lucky _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for reading up to this point. i hope you all enjoyed it and i awakened a love of zava in all of you if it wasn't there already. feel free to hmu on my tumblr, same name, where i continue to talk about zava much to my followers' suffering (i kid, i doubt they'd tolerate me long if it weren't for my passion for zava). 
> 
> stay stabby, z-nation. :)

**Author's Note:**

> if you'd be so kind to leave a kudo or a comment, i'd really appreciate it! if you want to find me on tumblr, i'm also at lovevalley45 there so shoot me an ask abt zava or really anything LoT related, i love talking to ppl! stay stabby!


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